


Rochambeau: Part 2

by Break_So_Beautifully, kikabennet



Series: Rochambeau Universe [2]
Category: Do No Harm (TV), Hamilton - Miranda, His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, House M.D., In the Heights - Miranda/Hudes
Genre: Aerokinesis (control of the weather), Dimensional manipulation, Electrokinesis, Gen, Immortality, Portal Manipulation, Precognition, Telekinesis, super powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28765128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Break_So_Beautifully/pseuds/Break_So_Beautifully, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikabennet/pseuds/kikabennet
Summary: Part two of the Rochambeau Universe.Alexander Hamilton is cursed with immortality. Usnavi De la Vega can read minds. Lee Scoresby can control the weather. Ruben Marcado should be dead. Juan Alvarez dreams the future.  They need each other more than they realize, but they have to learn to work together.
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, Graffiti Pete/Sonny, Juan "Alvie" Alvarez/Ruben Marcado, Usnavi/Vanessa (In the Heights)
Series: Rochambeau Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081637
Comments: 84
Kudos: 36





	1. Past Patiently Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Here's Chapter 1 of Part Two. We're super excited to bring you this next exciting story arc. There will be twists and turns and some cliffhangers. ;-) So, buckle your seatbelts. It's gonna be quite a ride. :-D
> 
> As always, let us know what you think in the comments. We absolutely love hearing from you.

Ruben smiles as he wakes up. It’s two weeks after New Years. He looks over to Alvie’s bed, expecting their customary good morning back and forth. Alvie’s not in his bed. He never wakes before Ruben. For a split second Ruben panics thinking about all the times they’ve told him about Alvie running away. He sits up in bed and sees Alvie seated at the little desk in the room. He’s writing furiously in his journal. There are papers scattered all across the small table, some crumpled, others laid out flat. 

“Alvie?” Alvie doesn’t respond; he keeps writing. Ruben gets up and walks over to the desk. “Alvie, what’s going on?”

“Shh. Can’t. Not now. Shh.” Alvie has never shushed him. Ruben starts reading over his shoulder. Alvie is taking pains to make sure that the writing is neat. Another thing he has never done. Ruben is one of the few people who can read his atrociously messy handwriting. Ruben’s eyes drift momentarily from the writing to the myriad of other papers scattered around the desk. Sheets with messy handwriting… and drawings. These were not here last night when they went to sleep. 

Ruben’s eyes fall on a particular picture and his breath catches in his throat. The room spins and his hand shakes as he reaches for the image. _Ian_. He feels like he can’t breathe. It’s unmistakably Ian. He’s in times square. That’s today’s date playing across the marquee. _No!_ Ruben forces his hands to still as he looks at the drawing. There’s something different about Ian. He’s dressed like Jason. Is it Jason? No. Ruben can see it in the eyes. Something in the way Alvie drew it lets him know that it is definitely Ian. What is it? He follows the lines of the drawing taking in every detail. 

_There!_ He has a Lichtenberg Figure running up one arm and across his neck. That definitely didn’t used to be there. _How? Oh. I must have done that._ Ruben’s hands start to shake again. A spark between his fingers singes a hole into the drawing. Alvie reaches up and grabs the paper out of his hand and sets it back down on the desk. Next to an identical drawing.   
  
“Knew you were gonna do that, so I had to draw it twice. Go put your bands on, I'm almost done, yeah?”

Ruben has never heard him like this. He goes over to his nightstand, retrieves his bands and slips them on. Alvie is still writing. 

“Alvie?”

“Shh! Gotta concentrate.”

He watches as Alvie painstakingly prints out the last of whatever he’s writing. “Ok. Come on. We gotta go see Alexander now. We don’t have much time.”

“What are you talking about? Time for what?”

“Come on. I don’t have time to say it twice. Let’s go.” Alvie gathers up all the drawings and the neatly written pages, leaving the messy ones. 

Usnavi is at their door, fully dressed, when they open it. “I heard… “ He looks at Ruben. “You okay?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Ruben says shaking his head in disbelief and confusion. 

Alvie sprints down the hall, but looks over his shoulder at the top of the stairs. “Come on!”

They follow after him as quickly as they can. Alvie doesn’t stop until he’s in front of Alexander’s door. He doesn’t stop to knock, he just opens it knowing that Alexander is already working, even at this early hour. 

“Alvie? What’s going on? Is there a problem?”

“No. I mean yes, but it hasn’t happened yet. I need you to listen to me and not interrupt while I explain.”

Alexander nods as Ruben and Usnavi join him in the study. 

“Ian Price, Jason Cole, whoever he is, is alive and he’s gonna attack Rochambeau _today_ . I don’t know who his backer is, but he’ll have men with him. They’re going after Lyra. Yes, we can call and warn them, but it won’t be enough. The only way he can be stopped is if we get in the car in the next hour and go there ourselves. The _whole_ team. All of us. And even then, it’s gonna be hard. We’re gonna need every single second to do it. Here, I printed out directions. We have to follow these to a T or we lose. Like, we lose permanently. If we follow these we get Lyra and live to fight another day.”

“What? You can’t print directions for a vision…” Alex says as he takes the papers that Alvie is thrusting into his hands. 

Usnavi snorts out a laugh behind him. 

“No,” Alvie corrects. “I mean I printed the directions for what we need to do to get there on time to save her.” He hands Alexander a detailed list of instructions. “See I wrote them out real neat because normally my handwriting is all over the place and no one can read it. I didn’t feel like that would be very helpful right now, so I made sure I took my time. Look, none of the letters, especially the R’s are backwards.” He looks expectantly at Alex as Alexander skims through the instructions in his hand. 

“Go get Lee, Usnavi. We need to leave in less than an hour.” He thinks for a moment. “And get Pippa. We’re gonna need her to keep Lee calm. He’s going to be beside himself with worry, fear and anger.”

Usnavi rushes from the room. 

“There’s something else,” Alvie’s eyes are shut. Ruben can see his eyes rapidly moving behind the lids. They snap open and he looks directly at Ruben. “Lee ain’t gonna handle this well. You’ll have to knock him out. He’ll be fine once we’re all in the car and on the way. But you’ll have to incapacitate him once we tell him.”

“Could we just not tell him?” Alex asks. 

“No, he’s too stubborn for that and we’d lose too much time.” Alvie responds, touching his head as if it hurts. He sways a little and Ruben reaches out to steady him and then pulls off one of his bands. Alexander notes to sapphire sparks that flow from his fingers into Alvie. 

Alvie’s frantic pace calms and he takes a deep breath. “Better?” Ruben asks quietly.

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

Now it’s Ruben’s turn. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me Ian was alive? There’s no way Rochambeau didn’t know,” he says accusingly at Alexander.

“I’m sorry. It was unconfirmed. Lawless only said they suspected. I think he wanted to keep you insulated from it.”

“And now I’m going to have to face it. I don’t get a chance to deal with it. I’ll have to be fighting him in six hours. I don’t even know if I can. You know what he did to me. I know you do. You should have told me as soon as you suspected. If Alvie hadn’t seen that it would take all of us… I don’t know if I can do this. Every other time I tried to stand up to him I failed and things got worse and worse until he finally tried to kill me. What if I freeze?” 

“You won’t.” Alvie says, taking his hand and threading their fingers together. “I’ve seen it. You’re gonna be amazing.” 

Ruben does not look convinced. “I’m gonna go get dressed. You should too. You can’t fight bad guys in pajama pants and a tank top. Plus, it’s too cold for a tank top. Make sure you bundle up.”

Ruben doesn’t wait for an answer, he just turns and leaves. 

“Is he gonna be okay?” Alexander asks him. 

“Yes, when the moment arrives, he will be. I know what I have to do to make sure he is.” Alvie’s expression clouds for a moment. 

“Are _you_ gonna be okay?” Alexander asks with sudden concern. 

“I’ll be fine. Ruben will make sure of that.” Alvie turns and follows after Ruben to get dressed. 

Usnavi returns with Lee several minutes later. Thankfully Lee’s also already fully dressed with Hester hopping behind him. Alexander quickly explains what Alvie has told them. And, as Alvie predicted, he makes a bee line for the door, determined to go it alone. He’s raging and stubborn. Pippa does her best, but Lee doesn't listen, just as Alvie predicted. 

“Lee, you can’t go on your own!” Alexander calls as he heads for the door.

“Watch me!” he throws back.

“You can’t drive.”

“How hard can it be?” He retorts. 

“Lee. Maybe you should slow down and listen to them.” Hester cautions. He ignores her warning. 

“Lee. Stop. She wouldn’t want you to get yourself killed. She needs you,” Alexander tries. 

“That’s why I have to go.”

He reaches the door and yanks it open just as Ruben runs into the room. He touches Lee at the base of his skull and Lee crumples to the ground. Alex kneels down and cuffs his hands behind him. 

“Lets get him in the car,” Ruben says coolly. “If we’re gonna do this, we need to go now, before I lose my nerve.”

Usnavi and Ruben drag Lee to the car. There’s nothing for it, so Alex grabs a blanket and wraps it around Hester before picking her up and taking her to the vehicle. He’s aware he’s not supposed to touch her, so maybe the blanket will be enough of a barrier. They don’t have another choice, regardless. They settle the pair of them in the seat and buckle him in, placing Hester on Lee’s lap. A few minutes later the hare stirs and puts her front paws on Lee’s chest and noses at him.

“He’ll be fine, Hester,” Usnavi assures. “Alvie says he’ll be fine once he wakes up in the car. Keep an eye on him.”

“Always,” she replies. 

A few minutes later the whole team is piling into the SUV.

“Did you call and warn them?” Ruben asks. 

“Yes. I couldn’t reach Lawless so I left him a message,” Alexander replies. 

“Good, but it won’t matter,” Alvie says. He’s leaning against Ruben, eyes heavy, his fingers threaded with Ruben’s. Ruben’s face is pale, his jaw clenched. Alex can tell, as he glances at the pair of them in the rearview mirror that he’s tense, nervous, and utterly terrified. 

And who wouldn’t be under the same circumstances? Not only is the man who held him prisoner and tortured him for nearly a year not dead as he had believed, but he’s also now an active threat to their team, his new friends, and an innocent little girl. And Ruben is going to have to face him. Alvie saw that they will have a direct confrontation. 

Alex moves his eyes back to the road. A few minutes later, Lee stirs. 

“Whatthe-” He slurs. He’s still groggy from taking however many volts of electricity Ruben pulsed into the back of his head. He groans. _Yeah,_ Alex thinks, _that probably left him with a headache._

Usnavi hands him a bottle of water and some Tylenol. “Here. Take these and drink up. It’ll help.”

Pippa turns to look at him from her place riding shotgun. “You okay?” she asks gently. 

“Who hit me? What are we doing?”

“I’m sorry,” Ruben starts, but he’s interrupted.

“It’s my fault,” Alvie interjects. “I told Ruben he was gonna have to knock you out. We didn’t have time for your grandstanding bull and needed to get going. It was the only way we were going to get in the car and be able to get on the road on time. We all want to save Lyra. So I told him to knock you out so that we could do just that.”

Lee turns to look at the pair of them. “Well aren’t you two just full of surprises? I’m not saying I’m okay with it, but if it’s what needed to help Lyra then I’ll put it aside, for now. But we’re going to have a chat later, Alvie. Now can someone get these damn cuffs off me?”

Alexander fishes the handcuff key and hands it to Pippa who then hands it to Usnavi. Hester hops off his lap so that Lee can lean forward while Usanvi unlocks the cuffs. Lee sits back and rubs his wrists as Hester hops back up. She nuzzles at his hand and he pets her head and strokes her ears. 

“How did Hester get in the car?”

“Uh… I picked her up. But I wrapped her in a blanket first,” Alexander confesses. “Sorry, there just wasn't time to be more delicate and none of us have Daemons to pick her up.”

“Well, at least you thought to not touch her directly.” Lee takes a moment to glare at Alvie.

“What?” Alvie pouts. “ I haven’t tried to pet your bunny in months. I’ve been good.” 

Lee raises an eyebrow at him. 

“What?” Alvie argues. “I have. Okay, so she’s not come anywhere near me and I haven’t gotten close enough, but I’ve not tried to get to her either. I can’t help it that I like soft, fluffy things. I never had a bunny.”

“Arctic. Hare.” They both correct. 

“Arctic hare,” Alvie repeats. 

He lays his head back on Ruben’s shoulder. Ruben adjusts to put his arm around him and lets him lean against his chest. Within five minutes Alvie is asleep. Ruben takes his bands off and lets some of his own energy flow into Alvie. He can tell that he’s drained from the night's dreams and his early rising to write and draw. He gets sleepy after he’s had really intense visions and these are the most intense he’s had since he started dreaming again. 

\---

The six hour journey through the mountains and back down to New York City is a long one. They all sleep off and on. When they are not sleeping, Alex passes Alvie’s informal dossier around to each member so that they can all read the directions and look at what he’s drawn out. Some of the drawings are diagrams, some are images of Ian or the men he’s bringing with him. Some are specific confrontations for different members of the team. The most detailed is the last drawing in the folder. It’s Alvie, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall bleeding from the head. Ruben standing in front of him, also with a wound and bleeding from the shoulder. He’s facing off against Ian, in a lab coat and scrubs. 

Lee flips through the instructions. They are thorough. A list of who needs to be where and when. Thankfully, his job is to make straight for Lyra's room inside the compound and get her down to the main lobby. Then he’s supposed to wait for the team with her on the southwest side of the room. If he tries to make a run for it, one or both of them, depending on their route, gets injured. So he’ll just have to wait. There’s a drawing of him shielding her and throwing lighting at two advancing bad guys. 

He looks at the last picture with Alvie, Ruben, and Ian. “Alex, Lyra kept talking about a doctor. Is it this guy? Has he been near her this whole time?”

“I don’t know. If so, Lawless hasn’t mentioned it. But nothing from him would surprise me. It is odd though. I mean, maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

Lee narrows his eyes. “That seems… doubtful given Lawless’ track record.”

“Hmm.” Alex doesn’t know what else to say. He’s had his suspicions about Ian, but he didn’t really think Lawless would be so careless. He’s hoping that they’ll get more answers once all of this is over. 

By the time they reach the edge of the huge city, they’re all awake. Alvie has his sketch pad and pencils, but nothing new has come to him yet. Just the same stuff. His directions had given Alex the exact route that they’d needed to take, so there is nothing for him to do. He bounces his knee next to Ruben’s leg. 

Usnavi turns around and looks at him. “It’s going to be okay, Alvie. You’ve done well. We all know exactly where we need to go and what to do thanks to you. You gave us the map. Now we’ll come through for you and follow it. We’re all gonna be okay and that’s thanks to you.”

Alvie bites his lip and looks up at the roof of the van. “So many things… So many things could go wrong still. What if I missed something? I can’t see us all at the end of the day. Just the actions leading up to the big conflicts. I can’t see how they turn out.”

“How did you know? I mean, how did you know that if we didn’t follow your exact plan we wouldn’t succeed?”

“Oh, well, I saw those outcomes. They were… no bueno. But this one, it seemed like we had a chance. Especially if I-” He stops and glances at Ruben who is holding his hand. “Well, especially if I end up in that room with Ian like in the drawing. Things there work out okay. But I don’t know about everyone else. I see me most clearly. The rest is a little, um, blurry? Like i think we all make it back, but it’s like that part of it isn’t set in stone.” he shakes his head to clear his vision. “I sort of see us all together, but it’s not… clear. I don’t know how else to describe it. I think it's because a million little things have to fall into place, go exactly right, or we don’t reach that ending.”

“May I see?” Usnavi asks. “Do you mind if I touch you? I get a clearer sound and picture if I can have direct contact. Ruben, would you mind? I don’t want to get shocked into next week and you seem pretty sparky right now.”

“Sure, of course.” Alvie responds.

“Oh sure, sorry.” Ruben slips his hand out of Alvie’s, puts his bands back on and then takes his hand again in both of his. 

Usnavi reaches back and touches Alvie’s temple with his eyes closed. Alvie tries to recall as much detail as he can from what he’s seen and he tries to keep it in the order in which he thinks it will occur. That’s the hardest part is trying to unravel the timing. 

Usnavi is concentrating hard as he takes it all in. He’s breathing deeply in and out through his nose. It’s a _lot_ of information. 

When Alvie finishes silently reviewing everything with him, Usnavi opens his eyes. 

“I’m impressed, Alvie. I didn’t see anything that you could have missed. Like I said, you’re doing so good. I know that was a lot and I’m proud of you. I know today is going to be hard. But you’re in good hands.” He glances knowingly over at Ruben. Alvie nods in agreement. 

“Ruben, would you mind if I try something? It’s something Pippa thought I should try. May I touch you, now?” 

Ruben’s hands are shaking like they have been since he saw that picture of Ian this morning. 

Usnavi lowers his voice, “I know you’re scared. I know you don’t want to be here. I know your anxiety has been rising with every second we’ve inched closer to the city. Let me try to help?”

Ruben’s breathing is a little shallow, but on this side of panicked, but only just. He nods and Usnavi moves his hands to place them on either side of his head. They both close their eyes as he speaks into Ruben’s mind. 

Usnavi thinks about what he’s been talking about with Pippa. He calms his own mind and tries to exude a sense of peace, calm and confidence. He’s never tried this before. He has no idea if it will work. 

_I’ve seen what Alvie sees. You’re going to be amazing. It may not be easy, but you don’t need to worry, okay? Don’t worry. He’s seen that part. He’s seen you. You’re a badass. Calm your breathing. Trust Alvie._

Ruben nods between Usnavi’s fingers. Now he really tries. To himself he thinks _calm, peace, serenity, confidence._ He pushes this into Ruben’s mind. Not forcefully, but steadily. He can feel the thoughts or maybe they’re suggestions? He’s not quite sure how to describe it, but he can feel them flowing from himself and into Ruben. 

Incredibly he feels Ruben relax under his touch. He feels him flood with a sense of calm, peace, serenity, and confidence. Damn! Did that actually just work? Did he really just go into Ruben’s mind and help him feel something he didn’t two minutes ago?

He’ll have to worry about it later. They’re almost there. He takes a deep breath and breaks the connection. God, he hopes that it sticks and carries Ruben through the next few hours. 

Alvie reaches into his pocket and hands Usanvi a piece of paper. “For your eyes only, for now. We’ll talk later.” He smiles at Usnavi. 

Usnavi turns around in his seat, towards the window so no one can see what’s on the paper. He unfolds it. It’s a drawing of him touching Ruben’s head. It’s the moment that just happens. At the bottom Alvie has written ‘Yes, it works. Thank you. You’re a badass too.’

Usnavi can’t help but smile. 

Next to him, Lee is tense as a coiled wire. Hester’s mood matches. Usnavi doesn’t try to touch him, but he dips into his head, nevertheless. He’s worried, like, really worried. And that makes Lee scared. Usnavi is almost overwhelmed by his sense of love for Lyra and fear that he’s not strong enough, that he can’t save her. 

Usnavi gently tugs at the memories of all he’s done for her already, pulling them forward, another thing he hasn’t really tried before. Lee is in no mood to talk, but he’s also on edge. Usnavi senses his thoughts turn to the memories that he was just tugging at. Maybe it had worked, but he couldn’t be sure. They were memories already close to the surface. 

What about something deeper? Usnavi went looking. He drifted through the memories that were in Lee’s head. Different ones presenting different pathways to follow back through his existence. All the surface memories that he’s currently dwelling on involve Lyra. He starts down a path where he’s thinking about how much he hates Lyra’s father. Lyra’s father was a piece of work. He sees Lyra sobbing into his arms as she tells him about Asriel killing Roger. Usnavi feels a tear trickle down his cheek. He wipes at it and goes back in. Lee starts thinking about his own father. Now Usnavi was getting somewhere. 

Lee hates Asriel because he hurt Lyra. And it makes him think of his own father because his own father hurt him. A lot. He sees Lee hiding as a kid, being found, being punished. There’s more here than he would have wanted. He withdraws from Lee’s head.

“You’re a good man, Lee. A good dad. She’ll be safe. You’ll get to her.”

Lee looks at him. “Were you in my head?”

“Maybe. I can't always help it. We’re all a little stressed right now. Makes it harder to control.” He shrugs and tries to play it off. He shouldn’t have looked so deep, Lee had a crappy home life as a kid. But he was the man he was because of it. 

“Seems to me that you need to learn to control it even more under stress,” Lee comments dryly. 

“You’re probably right. Still, she’s gonna be okay. You’ll get to her. You’ll protect her. I’ve seen it in Alvie’s head.”

Lee gives him a half smile and Hester peers at him. Her ears twitch. They are not convinced. 

They pull up outside of Rochambeau. 

“Hurry,” Alvie says. “We need to be in the building and heading to our places before Ian and his people make their ultimate moves.”

“So, is Ian already here?” Ruben asks. 

“Yes.” Usnavi says, cocking his head to the side. “He’s been here. He’s… He was Jason… For a while. But then, about a month ago, Ian reasserted himself and has slowly been growing stronger. He hid it until yesterday. He messed up. And whoever is pulling his strings told him to accelerate his plan. That must be why Alvie saw it just in the nick of time.”

“Can you sense who the leader, this guy, is?” Alexander asks when they’re out of the car and on the street heading for the entrance. 

“No. No, I can’t sense him. He’s… I don’t think he’s close. And it’s like Ian’s never seen him. There's a voice, but it’s shrouded, like he’s purposely trying to hide who he is.”

“But it’s a he?”

“Yes, that’s just about all I can get.”

“Right.”

“We need to go!” Alvie reminds forcefully. 

Alex nods, pulls out his key card and gains access to the facility.

To be continued... 

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	2. I Hope I'm Strong Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter two. Buckle you're seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Let the action begin. We hope you enjoy this installments. Let us know what you think in the comments.

As soon as they are inside they can tell something is wrong. The lobby is hazy; there’s no one to greet them. It’s eerie. It’s oddly quiet in the immediate vicinity, but they can hear dull rumblings and crashings in the distance coming from the floors both above and below them. 

“Well, here we are. You all know where to go, thanks to Alvie’s instructions. Good luck, gentleman, Pippa. With any luck, we’ll all be back here in…” He pauses to check his watch. “Two hours. No later. If we can all be back down here, together, in two hours, all should be well, right Alvie?”

Alvie feels a little sick, like if he tries to talk he’s going to throw up, so he just nods. 

They all split up to head out on their separate assignments. Lee and Pippa make for Lyra’s room several floors above them. Alex and Usnavi head for Lawless’ office. Alex doesn’t think that Lawless is there, he’s probably in a bunker to keep himself safe, but he’s hoping to get a look at his files. Usnavi is coming with him to sort of keep an eye, or really an ear, on the whole team and inform him of their progress. 

Ruben and Alvie have business with Ian, but not together, also on an upper floor. Much to Ruben’s displeasure, Alvie insists that they have to take different routes to the fifth floor break room, where they will eventually end up together with Ian. 

Ruben looks around the lobby. Rochambeau seems different now. It was never a friendly place, but now it seems like the setting of some sort of scary video game, especially since Alvie is able to tell them about some of the horrifying things to expect. 

Ruben doesn’t want to let go of Alvie’s hand, but he has to. It’s the hardest thing in the world to trust him that everything will be alright, but oddly, he does. 

“You remember where to go?” Alvie asks, forcing a smile and shrugging one shoulder. He doesn’t want to let go of Ruben’s hand either. 

Ruben nods, but says, “I don’t want to put you in harm’s way.”

Alvie nods too, but he seems distracted, and not just because their abilities are about to be put to the test. He bites his bottom lip and then says, “I have to tell you something” but it comes out sounding more like a question. 

Ruben waits, dreading whatever it is. Maybe Alvie forgot to tell them something and he’s just now remembering. Maybe he told them wrong. 

“I couldn’t do this if you weren’t here,” Alvie says, idly playing with Ruben’s fingers. “I wanna tell you that...I mean, I think-I-”

Ruben pulls him against him, shaking his head. Alvie is  _ not  _ going to do the cliche ‘let me tell you something you may never hear after this moment’ number. 

“Tonight, okay?” Ruben says, pulling back a little. “You can tell me tonight.”

Alvie hesitates and nods a little. 

“Yeah,” he replies. “Yeah, okay.”

Ruben kisses him Alvie, and it feels like the electricity coursing through him could light him up like a Christmas tree, starting all the way from his toes and going to his hands which are on Alvie’s face and then in his short hair. When he pulls back, Alvie has tears in his eyes.

“Tonight,” Alvie says, smiling a little. He quickly wipes at his eyes.

“Tonight,” Ruben repeats. 

He finally lets go of Alvie’s hand. 

\----

Lee runs for Lyra’s room. Hester races beside him with Pippa just a few paces behind her. “It’s just ahead, around the corner. We’re almost there,” Hester says. 

“Yeah,” Lee wipes the blood out of his face. It’s taken him thirty minutes of hard fighting to get this far. “But we aren’t alone.” 

There’s a scream from around the corner up ahead. “Lyra!” Lee yells and doubles his speed. He rounds the corner with Hester at his heels and Pippa is there a moment later. 

“Lee!” Lyra screams for him. 

Pippa hears Lee roar, a sound she’s never heard before. There’s a whoosh of wind then sends every ceiling tile in the building rippling upward and then crashing down all around them. The sudden change in air pressure is the only warning of the oncoming storm. 

“Lee?” Pippa questions. 

“Stay behind me. Don’t move and don’t get in my way. I have to concentrate or I’ll hurt Lyra too. Worse, you might set off her powers and then none of us would stand a chance at making it back to the lobby safely.”

“Her powers? Oh, fu-” but her words are drowned out by the deafening clap of thunder that shakes the building to its foundations. Water, no  _ rain _ , sheets through the hall of the building. The men are still frantically trying to yank Lyra around the far corner of the corridor, but she’s putting up a fight. 

She refuses to go peacefully. “Lee!” she screams again. 

“I’m coming, sweetheart. Just hold still.” 

Lyra nods and collapses like dead weight to the ground. Lightning flashes from Lee’s hands, his eyes are glowing a blinding blue-white. With each bolt of lightning that he sends flying from his storm, men on the other end of the corridor drop like flies. The wind rages through the hallway. Any ceiling tiles that hadn’t fallen before go racing down the hall towards the men attacking Lyra. They fly at speeds that would kill. And kill they do. Anyone still standing after the lighting, was taken out by the onslaught of fiberglass ceiling tiles flying into them at hurricane speeds. 

Lee lowers his hands, but the power emanating from him doesn’t subside. Pippa hears him give a low curse. 

“This is just like what happened last time, when those ships from the Magisterium were chasing us. When we came to this world,” Hester is yelling at him over the cacophony of the continuing storm. “If you can’t get it under control, you’ll bring the whole building down on us all!”

“I’m trying Hester!” Lee has got his arms wrapped around himself, his eyes tightly shut as he tries desperately to rein in the power he’d unleashed. 

“You know it’s her. It has to be. You’re going to have to figure this out!”

“I  _ know _ that! Not helping, rabbit! Give me something else to think about.”

“Think about the wind, think about the open skies, think about anything, just calm your mind. Oh! Think about bacon. Bacon always makes you calm and happy.”

Lee lets out a low groan, the effort he’s expending to draw his power back is clearly taking its toll. 

Pippa is fixated by the scene in front of her. She reaches out her hand, but a shaft of static electricity jumps off of Lee and into her hand, singeing the flesh on her fingertips. 

“Ouch!”

“I said don’t move. Don’t touch me. I can’t protect you and control it at the same time.”

“I’m sorry,” she calls. 

“Don’t be. Not your fault,” Lee responds through gritted teeth. Suddenly, just a few feet away and desperately fighting against the raging wind, Lyra is struggling towards them. She drops right in front of Lee and takes his face in her hands, making their eyes meet. 

“Lee, breathe. I’m safe. You saved me, again. How can you ever think you're not strong enough. Why would you say that to Serafina? You're the strongest man I know. Now breathe!”

Lee sucks in a deep breath and again closes his eyes. The storm ceases immediately. The end of the corridor is littered with bodies. 

Lee wraps his arms around Lyra. “My little Lyra. I couldn’t let them take you.”

Lyra buries her face in his neck. “I told him. I told the doctor that you would come for me. That he couldn’t take me. He didn’t believe me. But, I told him he’d be sorry he chose the wrong side.”

“It’s not just me, we’re all here. Alvie… Alvie saw the attack. We came as soon as we could.”

“Maybe we should move this back down to the lobby. Who knows how many other’s stand between us and escape,” Pippa cautions. 

They both nod. Pan pokes his head out of Lyra’s pocket. “Well, come on, you heard her. Let’s go. Run Lyra.”

They take off at a dead run. There are men that appear ahead of them, but when they advance towards them, they suddenly disappear. The advancing attackers take one step forward and in the next moment they're gone. 

“What’s happening?” Pippa asks. “Why do they keep disappearing?”

“Fill ya in later, right now we need to keep running. And whatever you do, don’t step towards the disappearing men. Just run straight until we have to turn.”

“Are you doing this?” Pippa hisses.

“No.” Lee responds but offers nothing further. They sprint down five flights of stairs, nearly falling on several occasions, but Lee is sure of foot and catches both Lyra and Pippa as they make their way back down to the main floor. 

It takes them almost no time to reach their destination. Lee looks frantically around for the rest of the team. 

“They’re not back yet,” Hester states, still panting from their run to the lobby. “We need to get into a defensible position. Over there. By the guard station. That looks like what Alvie drew. Come on!” She hops towards the small boxy counter top and scurries down behind it. 

That’s when the first shots ring out. Lee’s not sure he’ll be strong enough to reign himself in a second time, so he’s careful with his storm this time. He can’t let himself slip over the edge or they might all end up dead. 

“Lyra! Stay down.” he yells as she pops up from behind her covered position. 

“I can help!” she protests. 

He waves his hand towards her and a powerful gust of wind knocks her off her feet and back down behind the counter. “Girl, for once in your life, will you be obedient.”

\-----

Alexander and Usnavi slump against the door to Lawless’ office. He’s not here. Of course he’s not here. He’s in some basement bunker. They ran all the way to the office and were working hard to catch their breath. 

Alex moves over to the file cabinets. Locked. He turns to rifle through his desk for something to pick the lock with. That’s when he sees it. A file, a thick file with Ian’s picture paper clipped to the outside. He grabs the file and shows it to Usnavi. 

“I think this is why Alvie said we needed to come up here,” Alex whispers.

“Yeah, I saw this in his head. I didn’t know it was just gonna be laying out, but I saw us reading it.”

Alex starts reading the file. “Un-freaking-believable! He’s had Jason working here for months. And he’s been in direct contact with Lyra.”

“Jason? You mean Ian?”

“Yeah, well, they're kind of the same. Lawless brought him on as Jason Cole. After whatever it was that happened to give Ruben his powers, when Rochambeau’s team went to clean up the scene, apparently Ian wasn’t dead, just knocked out. Rochambeau already had a bead on the guy, so they took him into custody as well and… and drugged him back into being Jason instead of Ian. They suspect that the electric jolt he got when he tried to kill Ruben messed with his memory and he forgot about being Ian. 

“See, Jason is a brilliant neurosurgeon. It looks like he's been having him work as a doctor here with some of the patients or residents, prisoners, whatever they are. Apparently, they’ve been giving him some drug that Ruben invented a while back. It had stopped working on Jason, but they were able to adjust it and adjust Jason’s body chemistry so that it worked again. Hmm… I can’t believe that Lawless thought he could control this guy...”

“Ruben’s not going to like that.”

“No, he’s not. Especially since it looks like it stopped working again. Obviously. And what’s worse, it says there’s a possibility that if Ian reasserts himself again, Jason may be gone for good.”

“So, Jason’s a good guy?”

“That’s debatable, but he’s not a sadist like Ian. Jason helped hold Ruben against his will while he and Ian battled it out for who would get control of the drug that Ruben was trying to invent in order to get rid of the other.”

“And that's when Ian tortured him and did all those horrible things that made him… well, the way he is?”

“Yeah. And apparently Jason didn’t raise a finger to stop it, just treated his wounds as best he could.”

Alex shows Usnavi the picture of Ruben’s stab wound. “Damn! That looks awful.”

“You’d think a neurosurgeon would have done a better job of stitching him up.”

“It says this was done in a non-sterile environment. Jason wouldn’t risk Ruben getting away. They used alcohol as an anesthetic and just basically did the best they could.”

“God! Ruben is a badass. What a survivor. I’ve seen bits of it in his head, but he works really hard to not think about it. So, Ian is out now, so does that mean Jason’s gone for good?”

“Maybe, maybe not. It just says it’s a possibility. Lawless must have been reading through this file when the attack started.”

Alex and Usnavi both wince as their ears pop at a sudden change in air pressure. The ceiling tiles lift and ripple and then start collapsing all around them. They dive to crouch near Lawless’ big wooden desk. 

“What is going on?”

Usnavi gives a sharp gasp as he tries to listen. The voices outside the building are starting to filter in. Some windows must have broken and it’s hindering the building’s internal dampeners that helped Usnavi not hear as much in the building. He curses as his head starts to pound. However, he’s able to sense Lee’s furious thoughts. 

He growls against the sudden pain. “It’s… It’s Lee. He’s found Lyra. He’s… He’s really angry. They’re trying to take her and he’s using his power to fight back. Damnit!” He clutches his head before he leans over and retches. 

“Jesus! Usnavi are you okay?”

“Yeah, I can… too many voices. Just give me a minute.”

He takes some deep breaths and works at the exercises that Lawless used to have him do. He quiets his mind and is able to block out some of the voices. The pain doesn't go away, but he can manage it. At least for a little bit. 

“Come on. Let’s head back to the lobby.”

Usnavi nods and they head out of the office. 

They come under attack about ten feet outside of Lawless’ door. 

To be continued... 

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	3. Just Do It Already

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter three. Sorry... not really. Don't worry, you'll see what we're referring to. 
> 
> The next chapter will be up sometime this weekend, probably Sunday. Enjoy. :-)

Alexander shoves Usnavi behind him as a bullet punches into Alex’s abdomen. Usnvi, caught off guard, feels the voices swell again and he sags against the wall. Alex does something with his hand as his midsection and Usnavi sees him fling a small metal object away. Alex then runs straight at the three assailants that are firing a barrage of bullets at them. He runs at the wall just to his right and then runs  _ up _ the wall, jumps off of it and catches the guy farthest to the right in the side of the head, instandly snapping his neck. He roundhouses around and catches the Tech-9 machine gun that the middle guy is firing, knocking it out of his hand. Alex whirls around again and kicks then middleman square in the chest while his hands fly as fast as his feet and he punches the man in the throat. The man slumps to the ground and Alex brings his foot down on the man’s neck, silencing him for good as well. All of this he does before the third man can react and aim his gun at Alexander. Alex grabs the barrel of the machine gun and smacks it back into the man's nose, breaking it. He then spins the weapon around and fires into the man’s chest. 

The hallway goes absolutely quiet. 

“What the fu-” Usnavi says. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?”

“200 years of boredom. I learned a few different forms of martial arts to keep myself entertained. I don’t actually like to kill, but I like being shot at even less. And I really don’t like people shooting at my team.”

“Ha! That was incredible.”

“Yeah, well. Don’t try that at home.” Alex coughs and spits out two bullets before digging a third out of his shoulder and a fourth out of his left calf. 

“You’re so freaking awesome! That was way cooler than anything I’ve ever seen on YouTube. I mean that was totally bad ass.”

“You’re such a millennial. Let’s go.” Alexander bends down and retrieves the file he dropped when the first bullet him. He helps Usnavi up and they head for the lobby. 

\---

Ruben stops to catch his breath. He’s been dodging bullets and bad guys for a while now. He stops to see if one of the clocks on the wall can give him an accurate time. None of them seem to be working though. He’s getting close. He knows he has to be in that break room soon. Alvie is going to be counting on him. He leans back against the wall and rests his head.  _ Ian.  _ Ian is going to be there.  _ How the hell did this happen? How the hell is Ian alive?  _ Ruben saw his body on that bathroom floor. There was literal smoke rising from him. No one should have survived that. 

_ No one should have survived having a plugged in toaster tossed into their bathwater either _ , an annoying voice reminds him. He’s still got at least a football field’s length to go. He’s tired, he’s sore, he’s scared. The last thing he wants to do is face off with the man that nearly destroyed him while his boyfriend watches. This is an actual nightmare.

He hears a new troop of mercenaries headed his way before he sees them. By this point Ruben assumes they’re Ian’s guys. They’ve found very few Rochambeau troops alive.  _ Damn! No more time to rest. Best get a move on. _ He turns to head further down the long corridor. Just as he starts to jog in the direction of the break room he hears the shots. 

He ducks to run lower but there’s a sudden blinding flash of pain and an incredible pressure that spins him around on his feet knocking him towards the wall. His left shoulder feels like it’s on fire, like someone tried to rip it off. He slumps against the wall and puts a hand up to the spot that hurts. It comes away bloody.  _ Shot? _ He’s been shot. In the shoulder. And then the pain hits him with it’s full force.  _ Damn! That hurts.  _ More than fire it’s throbbing burning fire and an ache so deep he almost can’t breathe. He turns and sees several men advancing towards him. His head swims as he stumbles, his vision blurs. 

No. He makes it to the break room. He saw that. Ruben’s hands start to tingle as blood drips off the tips of his fingers. 

\---

Alvie shivers as he stands in the big open room that he saw in his visions. His heart is pounding. He knows what comes next and he knows it’s going to hurt. He rubs at his arms. He feels cold, despite the sweater that Ruben insisted he wear. He’s not a physically imposing guy. He’s little. He has no powers that will help him physically defeat an enemy. 

He closes his eyes and swallows hard. He can hear gun fire. He knows one of those shots just hit Ruben in the shoulder and he clenches his teeth against the urge to run back down the corridor and make sure he’s okay. He knows Ruben is okay. In a few minutes he’s going to be in this room and facing off against Ian. Alvie leans his head back against the wall. When he opens his eyes he knows what he’s going to see. 

He opens his eyes. Ian is standing in the doorway, casually leaning against the doorframe as if he isn’t splattered with the blood of people he’s recently torn apart. 

“Alvie, right? Little Alvie, the runt of the litter. You’re the one that dreams the future, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Alvie is glad that his small voice is steady as he meets Ian’s eyes. “You don’t succeed, you know. You won’t get her. You fail. I’ve seen it. You’re nothing more than a school-yard bully. You pick on people that aren’t as strong as you. Well, it doesn’t work this time. We fight back and you lose.”

Ian moves excessively fast and grabs Alvie by his shirt front. “We? Ha! You see the future, huh? So you know what I’m about to do?” 

“Yes.”

He pulls Alvie towards him and then slams him back against the wall. Alvie’s head smacks into the wall and a blinding headache over takes him, he grunts. Ian spins him around and throws him against the wall again. This time, when his head makes contact with the wall, the thin skin on the side of his forehead opens up and blood pours from the wound. 

Ian has one hand on Alvie’s head, pressing him harder against the wall. His other hand twists Alvie’s arm up behind his back. 

“Little Alvie who sees the future. You said you know what I’m about to do. So, let’s do it in slow motion, shall we? That way, you can savor every detail.”

Alvie grinds his teeth together in an effort not to scream as Ian slowly begins to pull up on the arm that’s pinned behind his back. Alvie can’t keep quiet though as the tension slowly increases and his arm is steadily drawn towards an inevitable spiral fracture. He groans at the mounting pressure on the bone, his cry slowly rising to a scream as the first snap is heard. Ian keeps pulling at the same slow rate. Alvie can’t hear anything now but his own screams. 

Ian releases him and Alvie slumps to the ground. The bigger man towers over him menacingly. “Should I break your other arm too? Can you write out your dreams with two broken arms?”

Alvie doesn’t respond, but he looks up and meets Ian’s eyes defiantly. Ian isn’t going to break his other arm. He already knows this. He’s about to pass out and Ian gets bored with toys that don’t cry. He moans and Ian kicks him on the side of his head. Alvie drops the rest of the way to the ground, unconscious. 

He’s not sure how much time has passed, but Alvie wakes slowly to a throbbing pain in his head and his arm. He drags himself up from the floor with his legs and his one good arm and manages to prop himself against the wall. 

Everything hurts. He knew it would. He’d seen himself get thrown against the wall like a rag doll. Ian is insanely powerful. His arm hangs useless next to his side. The entire right half of his face feels bruised.  _ That’s probably from being kicked in the head _ , he thought. 

He panted and cried out as he tried to get his arm into a more comfortable position cradled against his chest. He sat there, his breathing heavy and closed his eyes. 

“ Alvie! Thank God. There you are.”  _ Ruben.  _ Ruben’s hands are on Alvie’s head, his face, checking his arm and assessing the damage, energy pumping in to Alvie. “Quick. I need to know where everyone else is. Did he get her? Where is Lyra? Lee? Alvie?” Alvie’s eyes fly open. There, just behind Ruben. He’s back. Ian. Ruben touches Alvie’s cheek, he feels energy rushing into him again, briefly, but enough that he can stay conscious. Alvie sees the resolve form in the line of his jaw. 

Ruben stands and turns. “Ian.” It’s not a question this time. Alvie smiles. Ruben knows Ian’s there. And that means everything. 

From his position on the floor, Alvie stares out from behind Ruben and his flickering hands. He’s in so much pain and he’s so tired, but this is what is going to make it all worth it. Ian steps to his right, and Ruben counters, keeping himself between Alvie and Ian. 

“You…”

“Surprise!” Ian makes a jazz-hands type movement. “See I was surprised to wake up in that bathroom all alone. You were supposed to be the one that was dead. I guess we both underestimated the power of that Blackout drug, didn’t we?”

“You… You hurt Alvie.”

“The runt? Only a little. He got in my way, said stuff I didn’t care to hear. Things like ‘no’, and ‘you can’t’. You know how much I hate that sort of thing, don’t you, Ruben? You remember how upset I get. And how I have to punish those that make me upset.” His voice hardens at the end and his stare flattens. “And now you’re in my way.”

“You hurt Alvie.”

“Stop saying that. I know how you can be a little slow to figure things out. You can be a bit stupid sometimes, but-”

“He’s not stupid! He’s the smartest man here,” Alvie doesn’t know why he says it, but hearing someone call Ruben, of all people, slow and stupid fills him with a seething rage. “He’s smarter than you and you know it. That’s why you took him. Why you needed him. You were too dumb to figure out the kill drug yourself.”

Ruben pales at Alvie’s words, his shoulder throbs and he feels queasy. He can see Ian’s jaw tensing and the vein on his temple throbbing, giving away the fact that Ian is now beyond livid.

“Be quiet, Little Alvie. The grown ups are talking,” Ian says with flat rage in his voice. 

“Don’t talk to him like that!” Ruben yells, holding his wounded shoulder. He can feel the blood still flowing between his fingers. The room spins a little. “He’s the reason you lose today. Him, and me and our team. We’re all here to make sure you lose.”

“This has been fun, Ruben; this catching up. But now you’re starting to annoy me. I know that my men who were trying to get to Lyra had her and then lost her. Now where is she?”

“Y-you c-can’t have her.”

“R-R-Ruben,” Ian mocks. “There’s that scared little house pet that I enjoyed toying with so much back on the island.”

“I-I m-may stutter sometimes. B-but I’m… Not. Scared. Of you. Not anymore.” Ruben stands up straight, lowers his hands to his sides and squares his shoulders. He looks Ian straight in the eyes. “You’re nothing more than a school-yard bully. You pick on people that aren’t as strong as you. Well, it doesn’t work this time. We fight back and you lose.  _ I _ fight back.”

Alvie has the distinct satisfaction of seeing Ian pale when Ruben repeats the exact same words that Alvie had spoken to him earlier. Ruben’s skin moves and shimmers with his blue lightning. It’s brighter now and it moves across every inch of exposed flesh. Ruben’s arms, neck, and face, even his hair is sending off thin blue sparks. 

Alvie laughs softly and then says in a sing-song voice, “ Somebody’s in trouble…”

“What? Am I supposed to be scared of your little blue sparks? I’ve felt them before.” He motions to the Lichtenberg Figure that now decorates most of the right side of his body, and is clearly visible going up his neck and stopping just at his jaw line. 

“You should be,” Alvie says with a big grin.

“How does it feel, Ian?” Ruben asks. 

Ian rolls his eyes and gives an exasperated sigh. “How does what feel, R-R-Ruben?”

‘To know that  _ I _ marked _ you _ . To know that every time you look in a mirror, you see what I can do?”

Ian gives another eye roll and steps toward Ruben. “Enough. I’m tired of this conversation.” He flexes his fingers and takes a crouching stance, ready to pounce. 

He takes a step towards Ruben and Ruben’s hands fly up. Alvie’s smile widens. One of Ruben’s hands makes contact with Ian’s chest. The other with his face, the heel of his palm driving into Ian’s nose. 

The double blasts of lightning fling Ian’s head and then his entire body backwards. Alvie swears he’s seeing it in slow motion as Ian’s body arcs beautifully backwards towards the opposite wall, head first, feet off the floor. His entire body slams with a crunching thud into the wall a split second later and his charred, smoldering form slumps lifeless to the floor. 

Ruben stares at his own hands for a moment, bloody and tinged with blue sparks. 

“DAMN! That’s what I’m talking about!” Alvie yells from the floor behind him. Ruben jumps a bit at the sudden loudness of his voice, making his shoulder ache even more. “You think he’s actually dead this time?”

“No. I…” He studies Ian for a moment but doesn’t get too close. “I think he’s just knocked out. Pretty sure it would take more than a jolt to kill him. I’ve already done that once before.” Ruben hopes Ian will have new scars since he hurt Alvie.  _ Alvie! _ He spins around and kneels next to him. “You stupid man. What were you thinking going against him? You know he could have ripped you apart.”

He pulls Alvie in to a bruising hug ignoring the pain in his shoulder, letting his energy flow into the smaller man. 

“I’m okay. I’m… I just did what I knew I had to do to make sure you beat him. If you weren’t mad over him hurting me or trying to protect me, there was a chance you would lose. I couldn’t let you lose. I couldn’t…”

Ruben presses his lips to Alvie’s. There’s no time for anything more lingering or substantial, just the slight tingling that leaves both of them feeling like fireworks. 

Ruben help’s Alvie stand up and they get themselves situated so that Ruben’s shoulder wound and Alvie’s broken arm don’t jostle each other. 

\---

Usnavi and Alex head to the lobby as fast as they can. Usnavi’s head is pounding, so it’s a good thing that Alex is able to make short work of anyone they come across. He’s going to have to get Alex to show him some of those moves when they’re back at the barracks. By the time they get to the lobby, Usnavi is having a hard time standing upright. 

Lee is in a shooting match with a group of men at the top of the basement stairs. Alex helps Usnavi to the floor. “Stay here until the gunfire stops. Don’t even poke your head out of the stairwell. You’re not bulletproof and I don't want any of you kids getting hurt. Just stay down. Quiet your mind like Lawless showed you. I’ll come back for you when it’s clear.”

Usnavi has his hands over his ears but nods his agreement. He closes his eyes and curls up at the bottom of the stairs. 

Alex looks around the corner carefully to assess the situation. If he can get closer to them, he can take them out, but they are on the other side of the lobby from where he is. There are support pillars that are large, round, and concrete. Alex goes for it. He almost makes it, but takes a bullet to the knee just before he is able to slide behind the pillar. He pulls his knee against his chest and waits. A few minutes later, he watches as his body expels the bloody, mangled bullet from his knee. He waits a few more minutes, gasping a little while the bone fragments knit back together. 

Then he gets up and sprints for the next closest pillar. Alexander doesn’t think they even see him since they probably thought he was down. If he can get past two more pillars, he can get at them along the adjacent wall and they would never see him coming. He hopes Usnvi has gotten some of his abilities back under control. 

_ Usnavi, can you hear me? _ He thinks silently. There’s no response for several minutes. 

But then there’s a strained,  _ Yes. I can hear you. What do you need? _

_ Can you distract them so that I can run to the wall? I don’t even know how many there are. Is there anything you can do? _

_ Give me a minute. Let me see. _

Alex’s ears are ringing with the sound of the constant gunfire reverberating off the walls all around them. He waits for several minutes. Then he hears Usnavi’s voice in his head again. 

_ There are three men firing from the basement stairwell. I  _ think _ I can distract them, but you need to hurry. Lee is almost out of bullets.  _

_ Okay. Just tell me when.  _

Five seconds later:  _ When! _

Alex runs, not bothering to stop at the next two pillars. He reaches the wall. No one is shooting. The men are yelling at each other and shouting about voices in their heads. 

Alex rushes for their nest and jumps into their midst. He grabs the first man’s arm and spins him around, placing his own finger on the man’s trigger; he shoots both of the other two men in quick succession before twisting the gun out of the man’s hand and shooting him pointblank in the chest. The smoke from the gun clears and all is quiet. 

Alex stands breathing heavily for a beat. 

“Clear!” he called over his shoulder. He took the guns and ammunition from the bodies of the men he’d just dispatched. They might need these later. He carried them over to the counter where Lee had made his stand. 

“Much obliged for the assistance. Was almost out of bullets,” Lee says. 

“Well, take your pick from all this,” Alex replies before going back over to the stairs to check on Usnavi. 

Usnavi was sitting against the wall in the stairwell, eyes closed, breathing heavily. 

Alex crouched down next to him. “Hey, kid, you okay?”

“Yeah, just a lot to filter out. But I can handle it.” He works to calm his breathing before opening his eyes and looking up at Alexander. “Say, do you think we could swing though Washington Heights on the way home? I’d love to see Sonny, and Vanessa, and even Benny.”

“I don’t know that we can do that today. I think you’ve probably had enough, Usnavi.”

“No, I’m good.”

“Usnavi, you can barely stand and that’s with the partial dampeners inside this building.”

“I know. I’m just so close and I’m a little… a little homesick.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Come on. Let’s get out there with the others.”

Alex helps him to stand up. He sways slightly on his feet but he’s able to walk to the counter where the others are huddled. 

Much to Alex’ chagrin, Lawless comes walking up the stairs a few minutes later wanting a full debrief of what the hell they are all doing there. Somehow, Alex doesn’t think that ‘saving your ass’ will be a legitimate explanation. 

\---

Ruben and Alvie make their way down the heavily damaged corridor and stairs. The evidence of an hours long battle all around them. 

When they reach the lobby, they realize they're the last of the team to come back. Alex, Lee, Usnavi, and Lawless are huddled together in a corner talking while Lyra, Pippa and the two daemons sit a couple of feet away. 

Alvie suddenly tenses at Ruben’s side. “No!” Alvie says in a sharp whisper. 

Usnavi’s head snaps around to look at Alvie, then over to Pippa. A split second later, shots ring out from another stairwell and bullets crack off the tiled floor all around them. 

Lyra screams and Pippa shoves her back behind the counter she’d been hiding behind earlier. Then Pipa’s head snaps to the side and she drops to the floor, a bullet through her temple.


	4. You Live In My Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Saturday! Thank you guys so much for the support on tumblr and for the fic. We've loved getting the comments and questions and asks and engaging with you all!

**You Live In My Memories**

The men are still firing at them, putting their entire group in danger. Ruben runs for the staircase opening from where the shots are coming, Alvie screaming after him. His only thought is to stop the gun fire. 

Before he can make it there though, he feels the electric prickle in the air of an impending thunderstorm. There’s a clap of thunder and then lightning bolts are flashing past him. He can see the gunmen ahead of him crumple to the ground. He pulls up short at the smell of ozone in the air and the sudden, almost deafening quiet. 

It only lasts for a moment. A beat. Then there are screams and a flurry of panicked activity behind him. 

_Pippa. Alvie. Lyra, Lee, Alex, Usnavi!_

He turns. Everyone is accounted for and seems okay. Except Pippa. 

“Ruben! Help!” Alexander calls. He runs back to where she’s fallen. Alex is on the ground, cradling her wounded head. He has tears falling from his eyes. He’s already covered in her blood, and so is Lyra who is sobbing next to him. Pan is dog form, nosing at her face, licking her, trying to comfort her. Lee lifts her up and pulls her into a hug, holding her tight against him.

Ruben crashes to the floor next to Alex. “Let me see. Alex, let me see her.”

Alvie hovers over him cursing a string of expletives and berating himself. “I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. Why didn’t I see it?”

Pippa’s eyes are open and unseeing. There’s no pulse. Nothing. The blood isn’t even spurting or pumping. It’s just flowing gently out of her now. 

“Alex!” Ruben fixes him with a sharp gaze, but Alex isn’t looking at him. He’s in shock. Horrified at what has happened. He just keeps stroking the hair on the side of her face. Ruben shakes him. “Alexander! Saenz!” Still no response. “Alexander Hamilton!”

Alex’s eyes move to his, wide, red and terrified. 

“Alex you can save her!”

“What? Me?”

“You’re blood, Alex. It’s the only way. But you have to choose now. She’s dying.”

“She’s not dying, she's already dead,” Lawless says quietly. 

“Shut up! You don’t understand any of this,” Ruben hisses. “Alex, I can do it, but I need your blood. Can I do this? Let me do this for you. Will you let me try?”

Alexander nods weakly and then reaches down to grab a shattered piece of glass. He holds it out to Ruben like a knife. 

“Don’t be gentle,” he says. “You won’t hurt me.”

Ruben nods solemnly. He turns Pippa’s head so that the ugly wound is facing up. He slices a deep cut into Alex’s wrist, deep enough to be life threatening if it were anyone else. Blood sprays from the wound. Alexander hisses. Ruben presses his wound against Pippa, forcing Alex’s blood into her body. 

He looks up and makes eye contact with Alex. “It’ll work. It has too. It has too.” Ruben feels his own tears start to trickle down his cheek. 

Alvie squats down next to him and rests his arm good around his shoulders. Alexander’s wrist has stopped bleeding. Ruben pulls it back and slices into his arm for a second time and repeats his actions. They all count the seconds in silent sobs as they tick by. 

Ruben moves his arms to cut him a third time, but Alvie stops him. “Look,” he whispers. There’s something shiny and metal that makes a clacking sound as it slips out of the wound and falls to the floor. A mangled blood bullet. They all hold their collective breath as Ruben wipes away the residual blood. The wound is closed. It’s not there. 

“She’s going to be okay,” Alvie says, his eyes closed. “She is.”

“I can hear her.” Usnavi says through gritted teeth. “She’s coming around.”

Her eyes flutter open, but there’s a confused expression on her face. 

“She doesn’t know who she is or who we are,” Usnavi supplies. 

“Her brain is probably still repairing itself,” Ruben says quietly. “It may take some time. She may need an actual transfusion of your blood Alex.”

“No,” Usnavi says quietly, “It’s there. It’s just trying to find its way to the surface. Let me see if I can help.”

Pippa closes her eyes again as Usnavi places his shaking hands on either side of her head and reaches into her memories. He starts with her surface memories, just like he’d done with Lee in the van this morning. Each memory presents a different path for him to follow. He just has to find the right one… 

He sees one with Alexander at his desk writing something and follows that one. _Woah!_ Usnavi feels like he jumped off a cliff or took a dive into a deep pool. He grunts as his stomach flips and he has a sense of falling. He’s deep inside her memories. Deeper he thinks than any conscious memory could reside. He strengthens his mental hold on the memory he’s chasing. It is the only surface image of Alex that he had, and if it’s sinking this deep, he didn't want to lose it. On the plus side, this deep into her memories, all the other sounds invading Usnavi’s head have shut off. 

Suddenly, like the ground rushing up to meeting him, he’s flooded with memories of her and Alexander. But, something is different. Usnavi concentrates hard. He doesn’t like being this deep in her mind. He grabs at the memories that are the brightest and pulls back, dragging them to the surface with him. He holds them there, at the surface for her to meditate on. 

Pippa opens her eyes. She reaches her hand up to Alexander and cups his cheek, “Why do you write like you’re running out of time.”

Alexander gasps as the tears continue to flow and holds her hand against his face. “What?” He looks into her eyes and there’s something different, but very familiar. It’s recognition. “...Eliza?”

“Alexander,” she whispers back. 

“Eliza, my love, I’ve missed you so much,” Alex whispers to her through his tears. 

“It looks like I’m back in the narrative.” She smiles up at him while he strokes his fingers through her hair and laughs a little. 

“Oh. My god!” Usnavi gasps, realizing what he did. “Damn! I… I didn’t even know that was possible.”

“What? What did you do?” Ruben asks.

“I… I think I pulled up memories from a past life. I think I pulled up memories from Eliza. His Eliza.”

“Huh?” Alvie says. “Who’s Eliza?”

“His wife. Shh,” Usnavi responds. He’s still in her thoughts, frantically trying to make sure her current memories can still be found and that he didn’t do irreparable damage. The other voices are starting to filter back in and he knows he only has a few minutes before he’s overwhelmed again. 

They all stay there in stunned silence watching the two of them. 

“There,” Usnavi breathes. He’s found Pippa’s more current memories. He brings them up from their hiding place and leaves them next to the deeper ones. He can’t bear to put the old memories away, but they shouldn’t be there. 

“Alex?” he asks tentatively. 

Alex doesn’t respond to him. He refuses to break eye contact with her. 

“Alexander.”

“What?” he says, not looking up. 

“Do you want me to put the memories back? They’re not supposed to be here, not in her conscious mind. I don’t even know how this happened. What should I do?”

Alex looks up at him then. “Put them back? What do you mean?”

“She’s not Eliza. She’s Pippa. I didn’t mean to pull memories from that far back. I didn’t even know it was possible. I don’t know what to do.”

“If… If you put them back?” Alex asks.

“She won’t remember you. Not like that. She’ll be Pippa, but she won’t remember being Eliza.” He softens his voice. “It’s how it’s supposed to be. I don’t know that we’re meant to know the past, not like that.” Usnavi continues to pull at Pippa’s memories, bringing them up to the surface. 

Alexander looks down at Pippa. 

“It’s okay, Alex,” she says. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I just wish that you hadn’t left me so soon. I missed you terribly.”

“And I you. There’s never been another. Not for me. There was only ever you.”

Pippa’s brow furrows. “But, I’m not me. Not entirely. Or rather, I’m more me. Like, I know more than I did before.”

“And can you live like that? Knowing you’ve lived before?” He asks, not daring to hope for an answer. 

“I- I feel more like Pippa, than Eliza. But, yes. I feel like I can. As long as we’re together, that would be enough.”

Alex chokes out a sob and cradles her head against his chest. “Leave them, Usnavi. Leave the memories. We’re going to be just fine.” He leans down and kisses her forehead. “I’ve found you at last, my love. I often hoped you would come back to me. It’s taken 200 years, but I finally have you in my arms again.”

He moves her head so that he can kiss her properly. It’s the first time in centuries that his lips have touched anyone with any kind of meaning or truth behind them. 

Usnavi sits back panting. She’s fully Pippa again, but with the added bonus of her memories as Eliza. He looks for a moment at those memories, not trying to intrude, but just… curious. Those bright ones that he brought up with him. Alexander in his Continental uniform standing between George Washington and Philip Schuyler on their wedding day. That was the brightest memory. 

The others were clear as well though. Alexander, again in uniform, kissing her hand on the first day they met. Alexander holding their children, one by one in a line of succession across the years. Alexander standing between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson at a formal event for the President. Alexander weeping into her arms next to George Washington’s grave. Alexander with his writing desk in his lap, there were several versions of that image spanning their life together. 

The last one is Alexander holding her hand and barely clinging to life as she said her final goodbyes to him. Her sense of loss feels exactly like the sense of loss that so often exudes from Alexander. They truly seem to match, as if they really were meant to find each other. 

Usnavi smirks. Seven billion people on the planet. What are the odds, really? So, perhaps they _are_ meant to be together. 

\----

“We’re leaving,” Alexander says, helping Pippa to stand. “We’re taking Lyra with us. She’s coming to live at the Barracks, where she belongs.”

“What!? It’s not safe for her there! She doesn’t need to be around all of that.” Lawless counters. 

“Christian! Look around. They came for her. Your men were beaten. They were dragging her from her room. If we hadn’t gotten here when we did they’d have taken her.”

“But, your men, they can be dangerous.”

“Exactly.” Alexander’s voice is flat and serious, not an ounce of sarcasm. 

Lee steps up, his arm around Lyra. “You’re not keeping my girl from me any more.” He tosses the file on Jason and Ian at Lawless. “You let that monster have close contact with her, knowing how dangerous he was. Knowing what he was capable of.” He makes a quick sideways glance at Ruben, who holds his head high.

“He was contained. There wasn’t a trace of Ian Price,” Lawless replies. 

Alex motions around to the battered, bullet-riddled lobby, “I would beg to differ. Whoever is backing him, found a way to bring Ian back out. Usnavi says he’s been Ian for several weeks now and your people didn’t even notice.”

“Lyra told me at Christmas time that he was acting strange. She said he told her that she belonged to someone else. Now if a little girl knew that, how come you didn’t,” Lee questions.

“The fact is, _you_ are the one who failed to protect her. And she _is_ safer with us.” Alex, despite being several inches shorter than Lawless, has no problem projecting a larger presence. 

“I want to go with Lee,” Lyra states matter of factly. “I’ve never felt safe here. This place gives me the creeps and I liked the barracks. Being there at Christmas was the first time since coming to this world that I didn’t feel constantly on edge.”

“And she won’t be the only girl there,” Usnavi chimes in, rubbing his head as he reads Lawless’ objections. “Pippa will be there too. Isn’t that right Alvie?”

Alvie nods and manages to get out a shaky, “Yeah. She’ll be there.” He’s leaning heavily against Ruben. 

“What about her education? She’s been getting regular instruction here.”

“We’ll take over. I can teach her literature and history. Ruben can handle science and math. Hell, even Alvie could teach her art. Send us the curriculum. I’m certain we could manage. I mean, who better to teach American history than an actual founding father?” Alex asks with a raised eyebrow. 

“What?” Lyra chimes in.

“Yeah, he’s the guy on the ten dollar bill.” Alvie says with a shaky giggle. 

“This is gonna be awesome,” Lyra says with a smile. Then she turns to Lawless. “I’m not staying here. I’m going with Lee. Try to keep me here and you’ll have hell to pay. I ran away from Jordan College. I ran away, well sort of, from Bolvangar. You can’t keep me here.” She sees Lawless is about to object, “I don’t mean you can’t keep me here like I'm some petulant child. I mean, you literally can’t keep me here.” She snaps her fingers, takes one step forward and she’s gone. 

Lee gasps in shock. “Lyra!” 

They’re all dumbstruck. 

A second later she steps backward and is at Lee’s side. She looks at Lawless. “You. Can’t. Keep me here. Not anymore. I belong with them.”

Lawless is at a loss for words. 

Lee wraps his arms around Lyra. “Don’t do that. You scared me half to death. We’ve talked about this. It’s dangerous. You can’t let people know.”

She looks up at him with a wicked gleam in her eye. “He already knew. It was in my file. Or at least he suspected.”

“Your file…” Lawless says, confused. 

“Yes. My file that went missing a month or two ago. I took it. I just…” she snaps her fingers, “popped into your office after we’d been having a talk and took it.”

“Her file went missing and you didn’t think there might be a problem?” Alex asks. 

“Well, I thought I’d just mislaid it.”

“For months?” Alexander is incredulous. 

“Fine. The girl may go with her father.” 

Alexander and Usnavi glance at Lee. His eyes are bright and he has a look of absolute, fierce pride on his face as he gives Lawless a crooked smile. 

“But I want to debrief with each of you before you go. I need to know how and why you are all here.”

“You will not debrief with us individually. We’re tired, some of us are hurt and need medical treatment. We can tell you what you need to know here. Together. Do you have any medical personnel?” Alex asks. 

“Yes, we have an infirmary two floors up, it’s a secured room, so the staff should have sheltered in place there.”

“Fine, let’s all head up there. Then we’ll tell you quickly and be on our way. We have a long drive ahead of us.”

Lawless sighs. “Alright. Why does it feel like I can never gain the upper hand with you?”

“Perhaps you should stop trying to. I keep telling you we work well together and you keep trying to drive a wedge.” 

They start making their way back up the stairs. 

“Perhaps. But, you just have your team to consider, I have everyone else. Investors, The Board, the other residents, the staff, the whole operation.”

“I’ll make it easy on you, Christian. You take care of all of that, and I will take care of my team. You can mark them off of your list of things to be concerned with.”

“You know I can’t. I’ve put all my eggs in one basket so to speak and it’s not even under my control anymore.”

“No it’s not.” Alex agrees as they climb the two flights of stairs. “But tell me, have I ever truly kept you out of the loop? Have I intentionally kept you in the dark?”

“No.” Lawless’ voice is flat, he knows he’s not going to win. 

“Then I think it’s time you start trusting me. Trusting us. We called you this morning to warn you. We got no response. Alvie knew we wouldn’t. We’re not trying to work against you. We got in the car and drove six hours to get here and prevent an all out massacre. Someone is after Lyra. We will protect her. You use your resources to figure out who it is. If I were you, I would start with Ian. Ruben left him unconscious in the fifth floor break room.”

“Ruben? Ruben took out Ian?” Lawless asks incredulously.

“In seconds,” Alvie says with a proud grin on his face as he and Ruben limp to a gurney.. “One touch and whoosh, spaghetti against the wall.” 

“I’ll… send my men to recover him,” lawless concedes. “You still haven’t told me how this started.”

“I had a dream,” Alvie supplies. “I saw exactly what we needed to do. I saw what happened if we didn’t do it. So, I wrote out step by step directions so that everyone would be okay. I knew if I didn’t we’d mess it up. I even drew pictures of certain scenes so the team would know.”

“You… wrote out… directions? You saw it that clearly?” Lawless says, fixing him with his gaze. “And you could read his writing?” Lawless asks, turning to Alex. 

“Flawlessly.” Alex keeps his eyes on Lawless. 

“I can’t believe that.” Lawless says, completely nonplussed. “He’s never seen anything that clear, or been able to write out step by step instructions. He’s not capable of that level of coherency.”

Medical personnel come over and start treating Alvie and Ruben’s wounds. They splint Alvie’s arm and get him fitted into a sling before bandaging his head wound. 

The wound on Ruben’s shoulder was a through and through. No bullet to retrieve, so they work on making sure they can close up the wound. He sits still while they stitch up the wound on both sides of his shoulder. Another scar, but this one he’s proud of. He turns his attention back to Alexander. 

“I think you’ll find that you were missing a few puzzle pieces where Alvie is concerned. See, there were things that he needed, and saw that he needed them, but you wrote them off as unimportant. Tell me, what was something that continually popped up in his visions. Over and over, for years?”

“What? Nothing. He didn’t have a lot of repetitive visions”

Alex shakes his head. 

“You still don’t see it, do you?" He says. "It’s sitting right in front of you, literally staring you in the face and you still don’t see it. Unbelievable. Think Lawless. Think real hard. Something, or someone, that he saw over and over for years. I know you know. It’s in the file.”

“What are you talking-” Lawless stops suddenly. He looks at Alvie. Alvie’s holding Ruben’s hand, their fingers are threaded together. The medical personnel have finished closing his wound. Lawless can see the sparks dancing along Ruben’s flesh. Alvie isn’t reacting. He knows from the tests that they did on Ruben that Alvie should be on the ground with that much electricity in contact with his skin. “No. It can’t be that simple. It can’t be.”

“I told you keeping them locked away in isolation was detrimental. That it wasn’t good for them. Here’s proof of it right in front of your own eyes. It’s why my way is working. It’s why you're alive and whoever these guys were don’t have Lyra this very minute.”

Lawless shakes his head. 

“Incredible.” He looks around at Alexander’s team. “Anyone else have anything to add?”

They don’t say anything. They’re content to let Alex speak for them. 

“If that’s all, we’ll be going now. It’s been a long day already and we want to get home. As i mentioned, it’s a long drive.”

Lawless huffs and shakes his head. “I still expect weekly reports.”

“Of course. Like I said, I’ve never tried to keep you out of the loop.”

“And I’ll send you the curriculum for Miss Lyra’s schooling.”

“I look forward to it. I’ll make sure you have copies of her assessments so you can see her progress. We’ll take excellent care of her.”

“I expect nothing less.” Lawless nods. “Have a safe drive then.”

“Thank you.” Alex turns on his heel and the rest of his team follows him out the infirmary. 

To Be Continued...

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	5. Don't Ruin It For Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement y'all have given us. We are continually blown away by how popular this story has become. As always, if you have ideas or questions, feel free to share them. Come over and chat with us on Tumblr We're always open to asks. There's tons of behind the scenes information and cool stuff on out Rochambeau page over there (See the link at the end of the chapter). We're even starting to get some really cool artwork and we know there's more on the way. We'd love to hear form you over there as well.

“Yo. I’m starving. We ain’t had nothin’ to eat. Can we stop and get some food?” Alvie says as they climb into the SUV.

“Oh! We could get McDonald’s! Have you guys had McDonalds?” Lyra asks

“Even better!” Alvie suggests, leaning over the seat. “Lyra, have you ever had IHOP? All night pancakes?”

Pippa laughs.

“Alvie,” she says affectionately. “It’s late.”

“Lyra, tell that lady it’s not too late for pancakes,” Alvie says jokingly. “They have something you’ll love-Funny Face Pancakes. They make a smiley face out of your food, and they have the best chocolate milk.”

“Chocolate milk?” Lyra’s brows furrow. “There’s chocolate milk?”

“Shit,” Alvie throws himself back against the seat. “Alex, IHOP. We’re goin’ to IHOP.”

Pippa looks at Alex, smiling. “We’re going to IHOP.”

“IHOP it is,” Alex says, pulling out his phone and mapping to an IHOP just outside of the city. “It’s still going to be a bit, so buckle up. We have to get out of the city first.” He glances in the rear view mirror at Usnavi who has his eyes shut tight and is holding his head. 

“So, like, we need code names now that we’re officially a badass superhero team,” Alvie says. “I got just the right ones too! Ali, you’re ‘The Falcon’-wait, there might already be a superhero called the Falcon. Usnavi, you’re ‘Brainstorm’. Get it? Or ‘Psych Out’.”

Pippa chuckles. “Those are good.”

Usnavi manages to huff out a laugh. “Brainstorm or Psych Out. I’ll have to think, but I’m leaning towards Psych Out. Why the Falcon for Alex? He doesn’t fly?”

“Because falcons keep watch over everything,” Alvie explains. “You know? ‘Watch like a falcon?”

“Hawk,” Pippa corrects him. 

“Or Alex could be...maybe…” Alvie ponders. “Star Spangled Hammer.”

“How is that a thing?” Ruben asks from his seat next to Alvie, his shoulder hurts but he’s smiling. “What about, Star Spangled Ninja?” 

“This is so dumb,” Alex mutters. He may be a little cranky after having it out with Lawless, again, but he’s smiling too and Pippa shushes him. “I’m not going to show up anywhere in red, white and blue spandex, just so everyone knows.”

“You’re Dr. Taser,” Alvie tells Ruben with a solemn expression, but it’s clear he’s fighting the urge to smile.

Ruben snorts out a laugh. “It would be electricity related. Still, Dr. Taser is pretty cool sounding.” He doesn’t say it, but he likes the memory of Ian slamming into the wall that comes to his head. 

“You could be, The Sandman,” Ruben supplies, “because your power happens while you sleep.” 

Alvie smiles. "Yeah, that's cool."

“What about me?” Lyra asks excitedly. “What’s my code name?”

Alvie rubs his chin thoughtfully. 

“Air Drop,” he says, and almost all of the adults laugh except Lee who isn’t familiar with the technology in this world. 

“And you-” Alvie points at him. “You’re ‘The Weather Man’.” Then he adds dramatically, “From Channel 6 News at Rochambeau, The Weather Man. Forecast? PAIN.”

Lee smirks. “Speaking of powers, Lyra. When did you get so adept at that opening portals thing you were doing. You couldn’t do that before, could you?”

Lyra shrugs. “I don’t know. I wasn’t that great at it before. I thought maybe someone in the facility had the ability to block it, but then they worked when you showed up, just like before.”

Alex swivels in the driver’s seat and glances at her. “You… you bluffed Lawless? You couldn’t control it until today and you… wow, kid. You got guts. I’m impressed. You handled yourself well in there. You have exactly the kind of power he would want to hold on to. Did he know that you had powers before today, because I didn’t.”

Lee’s smirk turns to a full smile. “That’s my girl. She’s clever when it comes to keepin’ secrets.”

Lyra beams. “He had no idea. He suspected I could do something, but he didn’t know what it was. He knew I was important because of those other guys that got me when we first came through. Rochambeau rescued me from them, but then just kept me. I’m honestly not sure if he kept me because of his suspicions or as leverage for you.” She looks pointedly at Lee. “Either way, he thought I was important. At least he treated me well. He was always bringing me stuff. But he always looked sad when he would visit me.”

Lyra then asks Alex and Pippa, “Are we almost at the hop?”

The others chuckle. Lyra looks around, confused.

Alex glances at the map on his phone. “We still have a bit to go, but it looks like we’re getting out of the major population centers of the city pretty soon. How are you feeling, Usnavi?”

“I’m okay. It’s getting better, but I still have a bad headache,” Usnavi replies. “I may just get my food to go and eat later. Not sure I could actually eat anything right now.”

“Whatever you need to do. It’s fine by me,” Alex assures. 

Ruben and Alvie are talking in the back. “Say, if Alvie is giving us code names, we should have a team name too,” Ruben says. 

Alex rolls his eyes. Ruben is as much of a geek as Alvie. 

“I’m just saying, I mean, what even is Rochambeau? Like where did that name come from?” Ruben asks Alex. 

“The Compte de Rochambeau was a commander who helped us win the Battle of Yorktown during the American Revolution. From what I’ve been able to gather, the organization is named after him. He was a sort of backup plan. So, I think that’s how the organization sees itself. A sort of secondary line of defense to guarantee freedom.”

“Wow. I would not have guessed that,” Ruben said. “So, group name?”

They all laugh

“We’re here,” Pippa says.

“Thank God!” Alex says. “I don’t think I could handle trying to come up with a group name in addition to code names.” He rolls his eyes at Pippa, but he’s smiling. 

The hostess seems a little concerned by their a[[earance. They walk up to the host stand with ripped clothes, some of them with blood stains on them, mussed hair, and an overall just been through hell and back look to them, but she doesn’t comment.

“Booth okay?” She asks, never taking her eyes off of them as she gathers up menus.

“Yeah, whatever you have that’ll seat seven,” Alex responds. 

“Right this way,” she says with a forced smile. 

The booth is a large round one and everyone slides in. The hostess drops their menus like hot potatoes and skitters back to the safety of her stand.

“Look.” Lyra points to the menu, showing Lee. “Chocolate milk.”

“And ‘Texas Breakfast’,” Alvie says, reaching over to point. 

Pippa can see how tired Alex is and kisses his cheek. It’s different now. Something has shifted between the two of them. They can both feel it. 

“Want me to ask the server to leave the pot of coffee on the table?” She jokes softly. 

“Yes,” he states flatly. He’s going to need it. “I don’t expect anyone else will be awake by the time we get home, but man it’s been a long day and it’s going to be a long drive.”

“I can drive,” she offers.

“Me too,” Ruben adds.

“No offense, Ruben, but you’ve got a gunshot wound through your shoulder and you’re on pain meds. You have no business driving tonight. Plus I’d like for you to keep an eye on Alvie. He most likely has a concussion.”

“Oh right. Yeah. Of course,” Ruben replies, looking at Alvie with concern. 

Alvie smirks back at him. “Pancakes!” he says enthusiastically. It makes Ruben smile. 

“Usnavi?” Pippa asks, seeing Usnavi very discreetly put his hand to his temple. He’s looking back at the hostess.

They all turn to see her on her cell phone, but she pauses, hangs up, and sets it down. Usnavi moves his hands.

“What was that?” Alvie asks.

“She was callin’ the cops,” Usnavi says. He picks up his menu. “They got migas here?”

“Is she calling the cops on us?” Alex asks. 

“By the state of our clothes,” Ruben says, tugging at his blood soaked sweater. “I’d say it’s a valid reason.”

“And we brought in a ferret and a rabbit,” Alvie points out. “Sure they don’t count as service animals.”

“Did you stop her?” Alex asks, with a look of awe on his face. 

Usnavi nods. “It’s not easy, but if I can make this... _direct connection_ , I can push my own thoughts into someone else’s.”

He looks around to see the rest of them looking somewhat uncomfortable.

“I didn’t hurt her or anything!” He says defensively. “I just put a sense of ‘it’s okay’, ‘we’re not bad’, and ‘calm’ into her mind.”

“That’s amazing, Usnavi,” Pippa says. “Your abilities have really progressed.”

An older woman comes by in a server’s uniform, the classic diner look, and takes a pen from behind her ear. Usnavi starts to put his hand to his temple, but Doris (as her name tag reads) looks hardly interested in their disheveled state. 

“Cawfee?” She asks in a scratchy voice.

“Yes, please,” Pippa says. “All around, and-” she looks at Lyra.

“A chocolate milk, please,” Lyra asks politely. 

“You got it, Sweetheart,” Doris says, smiling. “Ready to order?” 

“Yes!” Alvie jumps in. “We’re going to need at least two orders of funny-faced pancakes. Lyra do you want some too?” Lyra nods. “Okay, then three funny faced pancakes. Ruben, what do you want?”

Ruben looks over the menu. “I’ll have… the Migas.”

“Yeah I’ll have that too,” Usnavi says.

“Ham and peppers omelette,” Pippa says. She looks at Alexander. “You need to eat. You need more than coffee in you.”

“I’ll have the t-bone steak and eggs.” 

Lee grunts a bit at that selection and looks over the menu. “I’ll have that too, but throw in a couple of slices of bacon.” 

Doris disappears and returns shortly with their drinks and a coloring page for Lyra. She looks confused.

“I have to fill this out to get my pancakes?” She asks, turning it over. 

“No,” Alvie says. “You have to find all of these hidden words in the jumble of letters. It’s to pass time while you’re waitin’ for your food and your parents are starin’ at their phones.”

Lyra picks up the red crayon. 

“I see ‘Flamingo’,” she says, circling it. 

\---

Once their food arrives, they seem to be more at ease with something in their stomachs. Alvie shows Lyra how to use all of the syrups at the table which creates quite the mess. Alexander drinks cup after cup of coffee. When they’re all finished, they seem actually tired rather than just fatigued.

“Uh, Ali?” Alvie tugs at his hair. “I ain't got any money.”

“Not a problem, tonight’s dinner is on Rochambeau.” He pulls out his wallet and holds up the flat black card. “I got a company credit card for emergencies. I think today in general counts as an emergency.” He winks at Alvie who smiles with giddy excitement. 

Once their food is paid for, they head back out to the SUV and pile in. They’re all pleasantly full and drowsy after a hard day and a good meal. Ruben and Alvie take the very back, Lyra and Lee snuggle in next and then Usnavi takes the last seat. Pippa, as always, is riding shotgun with Alex. 

Alex pulls through Starbucks and orders a venti cup of coffee with two extra shots of espresso. Pippa orders a grande coffee of the day. No one else wants anything. 

Within a half an hour, most of the occupants in the vehicle are asleep. Ruben is still trying to keep Alvie talking just in case he has a concussion, but even he is fading fast. Usnavi has his head against the window. Lost in thought. He looks a little sad. Alex will have to make sure he gets a Facetime call home. He knew it was hard for him to be near his home, his family, and not actually get to see them. 

\---

Usnavi leans his head against the cold window. His headache is finally subsiding as the glow of the city lights disappears behind them. So close. He’d been so close to seeing his family. God, he misses them. He’s been dealing with it. He’s made regular calls home to Sonny, Vanessa, and Benny. He’d been fine, or at least he thought he had. Until today. He’d been close enough that he could see the George Washington Bridge. But now he’s on his way back to the Barracks. And he knows that a phone call or even a Facetime call isn’t going to be enough now. He needs to hold them. He needs to put his arms around Vanessa and Sonny. Hell, he wouldn’t even mind giving Benny a hug at this point. 

He’s tired; it’s been such a long day. He feels his eyes prickle with tears, but he manages to blink them away. Maybe he can go home. He did okay today. Maybe he can go back for a visit. He’d just have to tell Alex. Not tonight though. Maybe tomorrow. But definitely sometime in the next week. He would have to. He just can’t do this anymore. Not without seeing his family. 

Usnavi looks at Alex. How did he do it? How did he stay away from his family until they were essentially all dead and gone. Usnavi’s not wired that way. He needs people. He’d almost died himself after he lost his parents. His friends and family had been his life line, his sole reason for getting up every morning and pushing through. His purpose. Sure, these guys were good guys. But it just wasn’t the same. 

He closed his eyes and tried to get a little sleep. 

\---

Alex is driving with one hand, Pippa is holding his other. It’s about one in the morning and they still have another hour or so to go. 

All of the rest of the van’s inhabitants are asleep. 

It’s quiet and peaceful after all the chaos and pain of the day. He brings Pippa’s finger’s to his lips. 

“I… I almost lost you today,” he whispers to her. 

“But you didn’t. And I think you’ve found more than you almost lost.” She smiles at him. He returns her smile with a sideways glance. “It’s weird,” she continues. “Like when I look at you, I see you as I’ve known you for the last few months, but then I get flashes of you from my time as Eliza.”

She reaches over and runs her hands through his hair. “You used to have much longer hair. And you loved our family so well.”

Alex’s smile twists downward. “So well that I went out and dueled someone without telling you, without telling Eliza, and then got myself killed.”

“Don’t say that. Things were different back then. Different rules. You did the best that you could and you were such a good father.”

“I haven’t been that man in a long time. There was never anyone else for me. Not until I saw you that day for the first time in Rochambeau. There was something in your eyes and I just knew. You were her. I knew it.”

“So, do we start again? What happens now?”

“I’m not letting you go. I don’t care how many times I die. You know the truth this time. And nothing could keep me from you.” He kissed her hand again. “What do you say? You wanna be with me? Again?”

She laughed. “I thought I already was.” 

\----

It’s almost two am by the time they return to the barracks. They’re all pretty beat up and tired, but Lyra’s safe, and that’s what counts. 

Alexander turns to look at them in the very back. Lyra is asleep on Lee’s chest, who looks like he could fall back asleep at any moment. She’s curled up into a ball since there’s nothing to cover her with and it’s probably extra cold in her pajamas up in the mountains. He knows what Lee is feeling. Usnavi does too. 

Alvie lost his battle to stay awake and Ruben lost his battle to try and make him stay awake until he was certain he was okay from the concussion. Alvie’s snuggled up against Ruben, drooling onto his sweater. Ruben has also finally fallen asleep, his head resting on top of Alvie’s. 

“It’s the most calm their minds have been in a while,” Usnavi says to him quietly. “I didn’t read Lee’s mind-not on purpose, but I know if that had been Sonny…”

Alexander nods, killing the engine. The sudden stop makes them all stir awake. 

“We’re here,” he says quietly. 

Lyra stirs and Lee shushes her softly. As they all pile out of the SUV, he carries her like she’s one instead of eleven, Hester hopping dutifully along at his side. When they get inside, he puts her down and she looks around. Pan does too. Lee touches a cut on her forehead.

“You can wash up tomorrow,” He says. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

It’s almost like everything that happened today is too much for Lyra; she bursts into tears, sobbing into her hands. Lee doesn’t panic or look worried. He simply pulls her against him and rubs her back.

“It’s alright,” he says softly. “You’re safe. You’re _home_.” 

Usnavi approaches them and Lee looks at him warily. 

“Can I help her to calm down?” Usnavi asks. “I promise it’ll help.”

Lee hesitates, but he can see the genuine concern in Usnavi’s eyes and finally nods. He steps away from Lyra and Usnavi kneels down. 

“He’s right, you know,” He says, very gently placing his fingertips to her right temple. “You’re safe here.”

 _Sleep,_ he tells her in his mind, transferring a sense of deep, contented exhaustion to her. They watch, mouths open slightly, as Lyra’s whole body relaxes and her eyes close. Just as she collapses, Lee catches her.

“She’s okay,” Usnavi tells him softly. “She needs the rest.” 

Lee nods, scooping her up over his shoulder like a little child, and starts for the stairs. 

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Alexander says quietly, smiling at Usnavi. 

Usnavi rubs the back of his neck modestly.

“Come on,” Ruben tells Alvie. “Let’s get you to bed. You’ve had the longest day of us all, I think.”

Usnavi waits until they go upstairs and then tells Alexander in a low voice, “Lyra’s worried. She’s a brave kid, but there’s been so many times she’s been separated from Lee, you know? Unsure of when she’ll see him-if she’ll see him again. I think it just gets to be too much for her sometimes.”

“She is a brave kid,” Alexander agrees, nodding. 

Usnavi bids Pippa and Alex good night and heads up the stairs himself. 

Alex watches him go and then turns and takes Pippa’s hand. He doesn’t say anything as he guides her to his bedroom. Things are definitely different now. And he intends to show her how different. 

As he closes the door behind them, Pippa pulls him into an embrace and then tilts her head, tangling her fingers in his hair as she pulls him to her so their lips meet. 

\----

Upstairs, Ruben checks out Alvie’s sling from the infirmary. . 

“I’m sure Alexander can find a doctor to come and fit you with a cast,” he tells him. 

Alvie only smiles a little, and his eyes are so heavy and tired.

“You were great today,” he tells him, his voice slightly raspy from fatigue. “The best.”

Ruben manages a half smile back.

“You’re the best,” he corrects him, leaning in to kiss him softly. 

Alvie grins as they continue to kiss, using his free hand to cup Ruben’s cheek. He then moves into his hair. 

“We need to go to bed,” Ruben says, pulling away. He helps Alvie out of his sneakers and jeans and into his bed. When he starts to go to his own bed, Alvie makes grabby hands for him. Well, hand. 

“Sleep _here_ ,” he says, scooting over. 

Ruben takes off his own pants, leaving the sweater on, and slides into bed next to him. Alvie snuggles up against him, careful of his broken arm, and Ruben pulls the covers up and over both of them.

“I’m really sorry about today,” Ruben says after they’re silent for several seconds. “I’m sorry about everything.”

“I’m not,” Alvie says simply, snuggling even closer. “I’m happy.”

“You’re happy?” Ruben lets out a flat chuckle. “You almost died.”

“But I was with you,” Alvie points out. “Every night in Rochambeau, I feel like I almost died. But I was all by myself. I was alone. That would have been worse.”

Ruben’s heart aches for Alvie. How does he have such a good outlook on everything when he’s had so many horrible things happen to him? 

“I was alone too,” he finally responds. “I felt that way as well. I didn’t know if I would ever leave Jamaica.” He kisses Alvie’s cheek. “I feel like you were that light at the end of a very dark, long tunnel,” Ruben says softly, and it’s true. 

Alvie is always so full of hope even when things seem so hopeless. How can he do that even if he sees the bad things before any of the rest of them know they’re going to happen? How can he still be so happy and full of love when he sees the darkest and ugliest things the second his eyes close? 

Alvie pulls him into a real kiss then, deep and meaningful and it’s all the words they wanted to say to each other back at the facility but couldn’t. Alvie snakes one of his hands under Ruben’s sweater, gently tracing over the raised flesh and discolored marks that Ruben says are ugly, but to Alvie, nothing about Ruben is ugly. It’s _him_ , so it’s beautiful. 

“Can I take it off?” He whispers, pulling back. 

Ruben hesitates, but then he nods. 

\----

It’s a few hours later when the room becomes too cold not to be wearing clothes, at least for Ruben. Still very groggy, he gets out of bed and picks up his boxers and sweater from the floor, putting them on. When he crawls back in, Alvie shifts at the movement, though he’s still asleep. 

“‘s just me,” Ruben whispers, even though he’s pretty sure Alvie’s asleep.

Alvie snuggles up against him, nuzzling his face into the warmth of Ruben’s sweater. *****

To Be Continued...

[Come chat with us on Tumblr](https://rochambeauuniverse.tumblr.com/)

*see chapter notes below if you’re interested in knowing what happened in between :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we're planning on having a Part 4 of Rochambeau that is all one-shots of the Smut variety. We'll post the first of these tomorrow, which will be Ruben/Alvie. The next one which should be up soon will be Alex/Pippa. This way, if you want to read the more adult material you can, or you can feel free to skip it as it won't really be key to any plot points. Let us know what you think, if you would want to read this type of stuff. 
> 
> As always, thank you all so much for the kudos and comments. We absolutely LOVE hearing from you all. 
> 
> P. S. If you have any suggestions for a group name (or hero names for the guys and Pippa and Lyra) let us know what they would be.


	6. NOT A CHAPTER (link to missing NSFW scenes)

If you're interested in reading the missing scenes from Chapter 5, click [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29033361/chapters/71261082) (and make sure to set update alerts set if you'd like to read odds and ends type ficlets for Rochambeau) 


	7. Mi Casa, Su Casa!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically chapter 6, but we used Chapter as a notice for the side stories fic so as not to confuse anything, this will just be Chapter 7. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 7: Su Casa, Mi Casa!**

Lyra wakes slowly the next morning. She blinks open her eyes and stairs at the ceiling. She feels Pantalaimon nose at her cheek. It takes her a minute to recall where she is an why. She sits up and glances around the room. Her eyes fall on Lee. He’s sitting in a chair in the corner of her room, his feet kicked out and crossed at the ankles, Hester curled up on the floor at his feet. 

He’s sound asleep. He’s got little cuts on his arms and cheeks from the flying debris. She does too, but she’s here. Pan wriggles under the blanket and snuggles next to her. 

She watches Lee sleep for a while before turning to look out of the picture window. The walls are white. 

“Do you think they’ll let me paint in here? Lawless wouldn’t, but I bet Mr. Saenz would.”

“Yeah, I think he might. It’s worth asking.”

Lee stirs at the sound of their whispers. He glances at her and smiles softly. “Mornin’ darlin’,” he says in his sleepy Texas drawl. He and Hester both stretch at the same time. 

“Did you stay there all night?”

“Didn’t want you wakin’ up in a strange place by your lonesome on your first day here. You were a little distraught last night when I carried you up here.”

“It’s not my first night here. I was here a few weeks ago.”

“Well, I just wanted to keep an eye on you. Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna make a habit of it.” He waves dismissively in her direction, but he’s smiling. “You ready to get up?”

Lyra nods, stretching as she swings her legs over the side of the bed. 

“Come on, I’ll get you a towel and you can clean yourself up after yesterday’s chaos.”

She follows him out of the door and to the bathroom that they share with Usnavi on the second floor. 

She looks skeptically around the small space. There’s nothing girly in the space. Nothing welcoming. 

Usnavi pokes his head in behind them. “We’ll get you some bath and shower products at the store later. Don’t stress, and yes, I think you’ll be able to paint at least one wall of your room. I’ll run it by Alex while you get ready for the day. That’s a great shade of pink for your room by the way. Anyways, I need coffee, I’ll see y’all downstairs in a bit.” Usnavi smiles at them and leaves them completely thunderstruck in the bathroom. 

“Does he always do that?” Lyra asks Lee after they recover from their stunned silence. 

“Every now and then he does, yeah. I think he just forgets that the rest of us don’t just live with unspoken questions.” he hands her a bottle of generic, baseline shampoo. “Here, you can use mine.”

She takes it skeptically, “Um… Okay, but we’re gonna have to go to the store, like, today. I left most of my stuff at Rochambeau. I mean, I didn’t have a lot, but, you know. I need some things.”

“‘Course we will. I’ll make sure you have whatever you need.” Lee pauses as he remembers the fancy soaps and bath products that Lawless got her for Christmas. “But, uh, you know this is just a little mountain community. They’re not going to have a lot of fancy stuff like what Lawless has been getting you.”

“Don’t worry, Lee. Just get me something that smells good and I’ll be happy.” She smiles up at him and he hands her a towel before leaving the room. 

Lyra gets cleaned up and it’s like waking up on the first day of a holiday. She bounces out of the bathroom in a pair of sweatpants that Alvie let her borrow, the drow strings pulled as tight as they would go and a long sleeve t-shirt of Alex’s. It’s not perfect, but she’s happy. She feels free. 

After breakfast, Alex, Pippa, Usnavi, Lee and Lyra all pile into the car and head to the little town at the bottom of the mountain. There’s not much in the village, but there are a few small shops on the town square where they are able to find Lyra some clothes and bath products that she likes. 

Pippa helps her to pick out all sorts of wonderfully girly things. New pajamas that feel good to hang out in, clothes that are just right for her. Barrets, and other fun things for her hair, it’s much longer now than when she first arrived. Pippa even buys her some lip gloss, much to Lee’s chagrin. 

“You look too grown up with that on,” Lee grumps. 

“She looks lovely and lip gloss is age appropriate,” Pippa corrects as they head back to the car with their purchases. 

They also make a stop at the little grocery store. Usnavi wants to make something special for dinner, since it’s Lyra’s first real night living at the barracks with them. 

**  
  
**

\----

“Usnavi, that smells good,” Alexander says, walking into the kitchen. “What is that?”

“Shrimp stir fry,” Usnavi replies. “Sonny and Vanessa go crazy over this.”

In the living area, everyone else is there, listening to Lee and Lyra tell them about their adventures. 

“A bear?” Alvie repeats, his eyes wide. “A full on bear? And you rode it?”

“Him,” Lyra corrects him. “His name’s Iorek. He rescued me from another bear that wanted to slaughter me.”

She’s squished on the loveseat beside Lee, who has his arm around her. He’s beaming. He hasn’t stopped smiling since she’s come to stay. 

“Sounds like a video game,” Ruben says, tending to one of the house plants. 

“Video game?” Lyra’s brows furrow slightly. She cranes her head and asks, “What smells so good?”

“That would be the famous De la Vega shrimp stir fry,” Usnavi says, coming into the room. “It’s a little spicy, but I think you can handle spicy.”

Lyra smiles. “I’ve eaten spicy candy.”

“ _ Guag _ !” Usnavi’s eyebrows go up. “ Necesitas probar el caramelo de sandía con chile en polvo!”

“Usnavi,” Alexander says gently, reminding him he’s not speaking English. It’s still one of the kinks they’re working out with his learning to suppress multiple thoughts. 

“You need to try watermelon candy with chili powder,” he says in English. 

Nobody calls any attention to what just happened and continues asking Lyra questions about her world and Pan.

“If I had a daemon,” Alvie says, pointing at Pan. “Mine would be a tiger.”

“Yours would be a lemur,” Ruben tells him, laughing.

“They’re cool too,” Alvie says, shrugging. 

“Alexander’s would be a lion,” Usnavi says, pointing at him. 

Alexander tries to hide how proud this makes him by scrubbing a hand over his growing smile. Pippa laughs and touches his shoulder.

“Coyote,” Usnavi says, patting his chest. “No doubt about it.”

“What would mine be?” Ruben asks.

Surprisingly at the same time, everyone except Lyra says, “Wolf.”

“Really?” Ruben blinks. “I was thinking an inch worm or a finger monkey.”

“Dinner smells delicious,” Lyra says.

“Come try it,” Usnavi tells her, nodding at the kitchen. “You can be the guinea pig.”

Lyra looks at Lee, who nods approvingly and she gets up and follows Usnavi into the kitchen. 

“She’s a great kid,” Alexander tells Lee, who nods.

“The best kid,” Lee agrees. 

\---

“Who is Sonny?” Lyra asks as Usnavi hands her the serving spoon with some rice and shrimp on it. 

“My little cousin,” Usnavi replies, smiling. “His ma died when he was nine. I’ve had him since then. He’s sixteen now.”

“You adopted him,” Lyra says, holding out the spoon for more.

“Yeah,” Usnavi says. “It was weird. Goin’ to court and stuff and talkin’ to a judge, but I love him.”

“Does Lee want to adopt me?” Lyra asks.

Usnavi nods. “I’m sure he will.” He pauses. “If you want that.”

“I don’t know if he wants that,” Lyra confesses. 

Usnavi hands her a large serving plate and asks her to help him transfer the rice from the wok to the platter. 

“I wasn’t sure I wanted Sonny at first,” he tells her as they work together to transfer the rice. “I was scared. I didn’t know nothin’ about kids, but I can’t imagine life without him.”

Lyra smiles a little. 

“He’s lucky,” she says. “Sonny. You’re nice.”

“Sometimes,” He replies. “Sonny says I’m mean. I don’t let him stay out past nine and he has to do all of his homework, even on Friday nights.”

“The first time Lee told me no I was shocked,” Lyra says. “We got into an argument and I said I was leaving. He told me no. He said I couldn’t and I wasn’t allowed.”

Usnavi laughs. 

“That means he loves you a lot,” He tells her, and she can tell he’s being truthful. “We’re mean when we love you.”

Lyra smiles when he winks at her. 

Dinner is a fun time now that Lyra is there. They all sit at the table together instead of some at the table, some on the couch, and one upstairs in his lab with the door shut. They pass around the serving plate of stir fry and exchange stories and jokes and it’s overall different. It makes Alex think of the large dinners with Eliza and the children, when they could manage to drag him out of his office. It makes Usnavi think of the busy school night dinners with him and Vanessa and Sonny and Benny-talking in a whirlwind of English and Spanish and the window unit AC blowing loudly in the corner. It reminds Ruben of the dinners with his mother and sisters-the girls wheedling and arguing for their turns to talk after holding hands and saying grace. It reminds Alvie of the dinners with his aunt and uncle and Rachel in which he and Rachel would blow bubbles in their milk until Tio Miguel told them to quit acting like animals. They always laughed. 

After dinner, Alex volunteers to help Usnavi clean up. The two of them work side by side in relative silence, commenting here and there on how nice it is to have a kid in the house.

“We can never catch a damn break, you know?” Usnavi says, wiping his soapy hands on his jeans. “Just makes me think every time things settle down and seem nice, something goes-” he imitates a soft explosion with his mouth and hands.

“Right?” Alexander agrees, but after Usnavi bids him goodnight and leaves the kitchen, a dark feeling creeps up on him.

Usnavi isn’t wrong. Usually after things start to seem good, something bad happens. 

**  
  
**

\----

Ruben notices a change in Alvie. He’s  _ wired _ all the time now. He vapes a lot more, stays up longer, ignoring his instructions to go to bed on time. He begs to go out almost every night, fingers drumming and leg bouncing. He’s decided he has all these ideas to make the Barracks  _ better _ . He wants to go buy paint and new countertops. He cleans his and Ruben’s room a hundred times even though it’s never a mess. 

“Alvie,” Alex says around eleven pm. “Bed.”

“Pfff!” Alvie dismisses him, currently reorganizing the pantry. “Too early for bed. Got stuff to do, you know?”

Alex looks at Ruben who only shrugs. He’s certainly not going to force Alvie to go to sleep. Alex sighs and goes past them to fix himself another cup of coffee. They both listen to Alvie ramble and rap as he moves things around to fit in an order he likes. This goes on until almost two am. 

\---

Alex comes downstairs the next day, already showered, shaved, and dressed, ready for a day’s work. Lawless has news for him that there’s been an odd incident in DC. That means trouble is hitting closer to home. When he gets to the living room, he freezes. His large map on the floor-the one carefully noted, dated, and organized, has fat black marks all over it. There are large X’s covering up entire cities. His post-it notes have been removed and are crumpled in balls all over the floor. Nearby, there’s a mega Sharpie, cap off. 

\----

BANG BANG BANG.

Ruben is startled by the loud knock at the door. He opens it to see a very frustrated Alexander holding a Sharpie. 

“Hey, Ali!” Alvie says from behind Ruben, zipping up his jeans. 

Ruben blushes, knowing what the state of his rumpled clothes and Alvie putting his on gives away. 

“Hi,” Ruben says, allowing him room to enter. 

“Alvie, did you mess up my map?” Alex asks carefully.

Alvie pulls his sweatshirt over his head.

“I made it better,” he tells him. “You had all of this teeny-tiny handwriting. No one could read that! And I marked where we are on the map. You didn’t have the barracks! What’s the point of havin’ a map if we ain’t on it?”

Ruben looks at Alvie with an almost horrified expression.

“Fu…” Alex sighs, scrubbing a hand down his face. He says, “Do you know how important those notes are to me? To us?”

Alvie runs a hand through his short, slightly messed up hair. He looks nervous now. “Are you...mad?”

“Ruben,” Alex says in a no-nonsense tone. “A word.” He nods to the hallway. 

Alvie starts to follow and Alex blocks him with his hand. Alvie looks dejected, but stays where he is. Alex closes the door behind him and then goes off.

“What the hell is going on with him?” He hisses. “He’s up at all hours of the night doing bizarre shit, he’s talking louder and louder every Goddamn minute! Is he on something? Do you know?”

Ruben shakes his head helplessly. 

“It came on kind of suddenly,” He admits. “And he’s had a lot of trouble winding down at night and he…” he bites his bottom lip. “He wants... _ physical activity  _ all the time.”

“Do you think it’s his ability?” Alex seems to be calming down a bit, realizing that whatever’s going on might be out of Alvie’s control. “Is his brain short-circuiting, you think?”

Ruben shrugs again, but his face shows that’s contemplating. 

“His file…” he says thoughtfully. “He was in the psych ward for something else.”

“Manic depression,” Alex confirms. “So?”

“It’s Bipolar Disorder,” Ruben explains. “Can we look at his file?”

They go to Alex’s office where all of their personal files from Rochambeau are kept. One Juan Gabriel Alvarez. Ruben flips it open, sifting through some of the papers. 

“ ‘...mood can shift from euphoric, full of energy, even irritability. Patient shows lack of judgement, decreased need for sleep, increased sexual activity, overly confident…’ “. 

“Okay.” Alex nods, crossing his arms. “So this is normal for him.”

Ruben nods, continuing to look. “ ‘Patient has lost interest in friends and family, significant change in appetite, weight loss, increased sleep, attempted suicide…’ “.

He swallows hard, looking at Alex.

“So which one is he?” Alex asks as Ruben passes him the file.

“It’s not which one he  _ is _ ,” Ruben explains. “It’s which one he’s  _ at _ .”

Alex frowns. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s highs followed by lows,” Ruben says. “Over and over. He cycles through them. He’s up in the clouds and then down in the dirt. It can’t be helped. It’s brain chemistry.”

“So how do we fix him?” Alex asks, sighing.

“There is no ‘fixing’ him,” Ruben almost snaps. “This is who he is. Rochambeau took him off his meds because it affected their work.”

“So we put him back on his meds,” Alex suggests. 

“It’s not that simple,” Ruben says. “This isn’t a headache. Medication has to be carefully selected and go through trials and very small doses at first.”

Alex can hear the frustration in his voice and says, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make him sound like a broken toy. It’s Alvie, I know.” 

“He’s going to crash,” Ruben says, swallowing hard. “And without being on meds, probably hard.”

\----

Alvie seems to settle down over the next few days and seems almost back to his old self. He goes to bed on time and eats meals with everyone else and even writes in his dream journal. So it surprises them when he doesn’t get up on Sunday morning to go walk up one the mountain trails. 

“Alvie?” Ruben asks, coming into the room after showering. “You’re still in bed? Everyone’s ready.”

Alvie rolls onto his side, pulling the blankets over his head. Ruben frowns, sitting next to him. 

“Want me to bring you some coffee?” He asks. 

“ ‘m sick,” Alvie mutters. 

Ruben tells the others Alvie isn’t feeling well and vouches to stay with him. He works in his lab, checking on his boyfriend occasionally, but by the evening when everyone has returned home, Alvie still hasn’t moved. 

“You need to at least drink some water,” Ruben coaxes, tugging the blankets off of him. “Come on, Alvie.”

“Fucking leave me alone!” Alvie snaps, curling up into a ball and putting the pillow over his head. He begins crying. “Just leave me alone, okay?”

Ruben is shocked at how Alvie snaps at him, but then it dawns on him what’s happening. He nods and rubs Alvie’s back, putting the covers back on him. 

\----

“The best thing we can do for him right now is to keep an eye on him,” Alex says to everyone gathered in the living room that evening. Alvie has been in bed for almost a day and a half.

“Usnavi,” he says. “keep an ear out for him.”

Usnavi nods, understanding that he means he’s free to dip into Alvie’s mind. 

“Everything’s okay,” Alex tells Lyra, who looks very worried. “He’s still Alvie. He still cares about us, and we still care about him, okay?”

She nods, and Pan, who is sitting on her lap, squeaks and his ears go down. Lee rubs her back with a deep sigh. Hester nuzzles Pan. 

“Alvie has all of us,” He agrees. “He’s in good hands.”

Lyra leans against him, nodding. 

Ruben is the only one who hasn’t said anything. Alex looks at him. 

“He’ll be alright,” he tells Ruben. “He has the best doctor in the world looking out for him.”

He’s trying to lighten the mood, but Ruben doesn’t look convinced. When he retires upstairs and goes to his room, Alvie’s not in bed. The bathroom door is ajar but the light is off. At least he’s up and moving around. 

“Here,” Ruben says softly. “Let me get the light for you.”

  
His heart stops and the lights flicker violently when he hits the switch. There’s blood everywhere. In the sink, on the floor, and all over Alvie, who’s holding something in his hand. Ruben’s razor is on the floor, disassembled. His eyes move from the razor to Alvie, where there’s blood running down one of his arms and on both of his hands. 

Alvie looks up at him with hollow eyes and a tear-stained face.

“I want it out,” he says in a shaky, broken voice. 

It takes everything in Ruben not to start screaming. He kneels down and Alvie bursts into tears, his whole body shaking.

“Shh…” Ruben tells him. “It’s okay. It’s okay, Alvie. I’m here.”

He keeps his eyes on Alvie as he removes the blade from his hand. He places it on the counter by the sink and says, “Let me see.”

Alvie allows him to look at his arm. He’s clumsily tried to dig the tracker out. He’s semi-relieved to see it wasn’t another attempt to slit his wrists like when he was a teenager. 

“Everything’s fine,” Ruben says, his own voice shaking. The lights are still flickering. He reaches for a towel that’s hanging up on the closet door and dabs at Alvie’s arm. “We’re good.”

Alvie looks at him, tears still streaming down his face.

“They’re worse…” he says, his voice still trembling. 

“The dreams?” Ruben guesses. 

Usnavi and Alex and Lee come running into the bathroom. Usnavi must have realized what was going on. 

“Is he-” Lee starts.

“He’s fine,” Ruben says, hoping they’ll pick up on the forced calm in his voice. “First aid kit. Please?” 

Lee and Usnavi disappear to go and get it and Alex kneels down beside him. He strokes some of Alvie’s short hair.

“Hey, Kid,” he says. “You look a little rough.”

“The tracker,” Ruben says, standing up to wet the towel now. “He was trying to take it out.”

He asks, “Is Lyra downstairs?”

“With Pippa, yeah,” Alex says. “She won’t let her come up here. I promise.”

Ruben nods. He blinks back tears and one of the light bulbs burst.

“Sorry,” he mutters. 

“I can handle this,” Alex offers. “It’s okay.”

“No.” Ruben shakes his head, wiping at his eyes. “He needs me.” 

Alex only nods and then stands up and makes room when Usnavi and Lee return with the first aid kit. Ruben goes to work, with Usnavi’s help, and gets Alvie out of his blood-stained shirt and Usnavi wets some more towels to clean him up. Ruben very carefully doctors his arm and Usnavi cleans up behind him, wiping the countertop, mirror, floor-all of the places where blood has spattered. 

“I’m gonna go check on the girls,” Lee says, ducking out of the bathroom. Alex follows him. 

“Come on,” Ruben tells Alvie, helping him up. 

“I can-” Usnavi places one hand to his own temple, and uses the other to wave in a ‘so-so’ motion. 

Ruben hesitates, but nods. Usnavi follows them back into the bedroom and Ruben unbuttons and zips Alvie’s jeans, helping him out of them. They have blood on them too. He helps Alvie to lay down and looks at Usnavi, who goes over to him and places his free hand on Alvie’s temple.

_ Sleep,  _ he thinks, and Alvie quickly drifts off, his breathing slow and deep. 

“Thank you,” Ruben says, wiping his eyes again. 

They go back into the bathroom to finish cleaning up. They opt to throw the bloody towels away. As they clean, Ruben starts crying, not hard, but it’s noticeable.

“Fuck…” he says quietly, picking up pieces of shattered glass from the broken lighbulb from the previous events. 

Usnavi looks at him, concerned.

“It’ll be okay,” he tells Ruben. 

Ruben's not a mind reader like Usnavi or a clairvoyant like Alvie, but he knows things will be okay. It's Alvie at stake, so he'll make sure of it. 

To Be Continued...

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	8. And We Keep Living Anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience with the updates. We were both a bit exhausted after almost none stop writing for nearly two months. We have reams of scenes written, and we're still not done. We have quite a bit of story left to still take you all on. :-) Thank you again for all of your support and positive reactions to this story. We're still amazed at the reception it has received. 
> 
> If you have ideas or just want to let us know what you thought of the update, let us know in the comments. We look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. <3

Ruben pulls his glasses off and rubs his eyes. He’s been staring at Alvie’s file for hours now, going through every little detail. He’s reviewed his history, his treatments with ECT, his medications, the results of every different combination. Ruben hated to admit it, but the ECT had shortened Alvie’s lows. But it’s just not a viable option. His skin sparks as he thinks about the little scars on Alvie’s temple. No, ECT is absolutely not a valid treatment for him. 

Ruben looked at his skin. His power. His electricity. Maybe… No that’s ridiculous. It can’t be that. Ruben dismisses the thought and flips back over to the medications they’d given him. It looks like they always gave him sedatives and hallucinogens in combination with the ECT treatments. Sedatives…

Ruben thinks back to those early years with Jason, before Ian knew who Ruben was. ‘Your nightly coma,’ he’d called it. What if he were to use his power in conjunction with Oblivion? He wouldn’t have to use it long term, but if it could shorten Alvie’s low… that might work. Sleep and electricity. 

Ruben got to work. He knew it would take several hours to process Oblivion into the right dosage for Alvie due to his chemistry and size being quite different from Ian’s. 

Ruben leaves the lab for a bit while the drug processes. He walks to the kitchen. All the lights are out. What time is it? He looks at the clock on the microwave. 1:00 am.  _ When did it get so late?  _

He makes a fresh pot of coffee for himself. The noise must be louder than he thought because a few minutes later, Alex comes into the kitchen in his pajama pants and a t-shirt. 

“Ruben?” 

“Sorry, I was trying to be quiet. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“What are you doing? Pulling an all-nighter?”

“Not on purpose?” Ruben is a little worried that Alexander is going to order him to bed. 

“Alvie?”

“Yeah. I have something I’m working on that I hope might work, but I don't know.”

“I trust you with him. I know you’d never do anything to intentionally hurt him. Just be careful, okay.”

“I will be. The last thing I wanna do is create another Ian.”

“Ruben, make sure you take care of yourself, too. I know you’re worried about him. But you’re the best chance he’s got at moving past this. So make sure you don’t burn yourself out.”

“I won’t. I may not be able to find the right combo during this cycle, but I can at least eliminate what doesn’t work.”

Alexander pats Ruben on the shoulder. “Just be sure to at least give yourself a few hours of sleep.”

Ruben nods, fixes his coffee and then heads to check on Alvie. Alvie is right where he left him, curled up on his bed, under his blankets still dressed in his pajama pants and a t-shirt. Ruben strokes his short hair, running his thumb over the little scar on the side of his head. 

Alvie sighs in his sleep, but doesn’t open his eyes. 

“Don’t worry,” Ruben whispers, “None of us are going anywhere.” He leans down and kisses his temple. “ _ I’m _ not going anywhere.”

He heads back down to his lab. It’s another two hours before his computer beeps at him letting him know the compound is ready for him to test on Alvie. He’s starting off with a tiny dose. 

Ruben measures out the powder and puts it into a capsule and then heads to his room. 

Ruben pulls off his sweater and then unbuttons his shirt. He shrugs it off his shoulders and lets it fall to the floor. Then he stepped out of his jeans so that he’s only wearing his boxers. He pulls back Alvie’s blankets. Alvie groans at the sudden coldness, but Ruben slips in behind him. He pulls Alvie up and against his chest. 

“Come on, Alvie. Open up.” He gently squeezes Alvie’s jaw, encouraging him to open his mouth. Alvie protests, but Ruben puts his hand flat on his chest. “I got you. Just swallow this one little pill. Here’s some water.” Ruben holds the water bottle to Alvie’s lips. 

Thankfully Alive doesn’t fight him and he swallows the pill. Ruben carefully pulls off Alvie’s t-shirt. It’s cold in their room and Alvie starts crying at the discomfort. 

“Shh. Shhh. It’s okay.” He lays Alvie back down in the bed and then strips off his pajama bottoms so that Alvie too is only in his boxers. Ruben takes his bands off and sets them on the nightstand. 

He lets his power come to the surface so that the whole room is lit with his soft sparkling blue light. Alvie groans at the disturbance as Ruben wraps him in his arms. He can feel Alvie’s tears on his shoulder when he pulls him against his chest. Alvie is shaking against him. Ruben tucks his legs up against Alvie’s so that they’re spooned against each other. 

Alvie keeps crying softly until Ruben is situated enough to pull the covers up over both of them. 

“I”m here. It’s okay. I’m gonna take care of you. It’ll pass. Just sleep, Alvie. It’s okay. You can sleep.”

Ruben keeps his arms around Alvie while Alvie whimpers and cries for a few more minutes. Even when Alvie’s breathing has leveled out and it’s obvious that he’s slipped back into sleep, Ruben doesn’t let go. He keeps his arms tight around him, grounding Alvie even as Ruben himself drifts into sleep a while later. 

In the morning, late morning due to Ruben’s late light, Ruben wakes up warm and snuggly, still spooned up against Alvie. He rubs his stubbly cheek against Alvie’s, seeing if he’ll be willing to get up. 

“Mnrgph,” Alvie obviously still doesn't want to get up. But he does smile a tiny bit at him without opening his eyes. Ruben will take it. Ruben kisses Alvie’s cheek before he pulls back from him to get out of bed. Alvie whines at the loss of body heat against his back. 

“Shh,” Ruben soothes. “I’ll be back in a little while. I’m going to stay with you today. Just rest, love. It’ll be, okay.” He tucks the covers around Alvie and then kisses his cheek. “I love you,” Ruben smoothes his short hair, “So, so very much.”

\---

It’s been ten days since Ruben started the new drug protocol and, what he’s calling sleep therapy, with Alvie. He’s kept him on the low dose for this cycle. He’s not comfortable upping the dose yet. And Alvie seems to slowly be coming out of his low. 

Ruben pokes his head into his and Alvie’s room. It’s snowing softly outside so that the barracks are surrounded by the utter quiet that only snow produces. 

Alvie actually got up for a little bit today. Ruben was very glad of that. Perhaps the treatments were working? Maybe. Either way, Alvie needed something to cheer him up. 

He sat down on the bed next to Alvie and nudged him. “Hey, got something for you.”

Alvie rolls lazily over, “Whasis?” 

Ruben pulls two small fluffy white bunnies, one with brown spots on its back and dark brown ears, and the other with grey spots and dark grey ears, out from where he'd had them tucked in his arm. “They’ll get bigger. They’re just little guys now.” Alvie gasps and sits up. Ruben gently places the bunnies in Alvie’s arms. “I know you like soft, fluffy things,” Ruben says with a smile. 

Alvie is surprisingly gentle. He cuddles the bunnies close to his chest and runs his cheek against his soft fur. He has tears on his eye lashes. 

“No-nobody ever gave me a pet before. Didn’t trust me with nothin’ living. I mean when I came to live with my aunt and uncle, they had a little chihuahua, but it was a grown dog, already part of the family. I wasn’t mine, ya know.”

“I trust you,” Ruben says softly and then adds more firmly, “Their cage will need to stay in the lab. I don’t know if I’m allergic to rabbits. And the two of us are already sharing a room. He reaches over and pets the brown bunny’s soft ears. 

“It,” Alvie scoffs. “We’ll have to give them names.”

“I’m also hoping this will keep you out of trouble with Lee. The next time you feel the urge to pet Hester, you can pet your own damn bunnies.”

“I’ll pet your bunny,” Alvie says suggestively with a smirk and waggled eyebrows at Ruben. But then he goes right back to petting the tiny creatures in his arms. “I should name the brown one Lee. Oh. No! I’ll call it Leroy. That way Lee can’t say anything. And we’ll call the grey one Chester.”

They both laugh. It’s the first real laugh Ruben has heard out of Alvie in a while. Ruben nudges him with his shoulder and Alvie nuges him back. 

“Thanks, Benny.”

“Hmm.” They stay there gently stroking the rabbits’ fur for a while. Alvie ends up cuddled in Ruben’s arms, his head on Ruben’s chest. Ruben kisses Alvie’s short hair. “Love you,” he whispers quietly. 

“Love you, too,” Alvie replies, just as quietly. 

“You know I read somewhere that these things do better when they have another bunny to play with.” Alvie says. “I always wanted a rabbit. And you got me two.” He smiles up at him. 

“I’m a scientist. I always do my research.” Ruben replies smiling. 

Leroy and Chester sleep on Alvie’s pillow that night. 

\---

“Rachel Alvarez?” Alexander asks, walking up to the desk.

“Yeah?” The girl turns around from rooting around in care package boxes. “Are you here to make a donation?”

She’s little, tiny almost, but there’s something about her that radiates control and authority. Alvie did tell them she’s a bossy little sister. She stares at him with the same large dark eyes as her cousin.

“Actually I’m here to talk to you about Alv-Juan,” he says, looking around. 

\---

“It’s nice, this place,” Alexander remarks, looking around at the small office storefront that’s full of boxes and supplies. “Helping out the homeless and what not.”

She picks up one of the large cardboard cartons full of care packages and nearly drops it. Alexander moves around to the other side to help her before it flips.

“Yeah, well…” she sets it on the desk and tucks some hair behind her ear. “Let’s just say I’m not exactly as charitable as I look.”

She crosses her arms and looks away.

“You’re hoping he’ll come through one of these places,” Alexander guesses. 

She shrugs one shoulder. 

“He used to go to the clinics for free socks and showers,” she says. “And what do you want with him anyway? You a detective? Warrant for his arrest or something?”

She scoffs and begins tending to her work again, tucking away more care packages into another empty cardboard box.

“You’re wasting your time,” she says. “If a PI that my family hired to find him can’t, you won’t have any luck.”

“I know where Juan is,” Alexander says, cocking his head slightly.

She gives him a look that says she doesn’t believe him. 

“I know it was hard on you,” he continues. “When you threw him out in Phoenix. You thought you could protect him.”

“I didn’t throw him out!” She barks suddenly, turning to him. “He went off his meds! Went batshit mental! Maxxed out my credit cards, stayed gone for days at a time, and-”

“And the nightmares were scaring you,” he finishes, knowing what she’s going to say. 

“He was convinced he could dream things that would happen in the future,” she says quietly, and there’s a touch of hurt in her voice now, guilt even. “Not fun stuff either like lottery numbers- murders and natural disasters and terrorist attacks…”

She lets out a long, shuddering sigh. “I told him to get back on his meds or get out.”

Alexander nods, watching her wipe at her eyes.

“The whole reason I took him with me to Phoenix is because I was tired of everyone trying to fix him.”

She starts crying softly then, furiously wiping at her eyes. Alexander wordlessly hands her the box of Kleenex off the desk. 

“You were scared,” he tells her. “It wasn’t your fault. Alvie would have run anyway. He wanted to protect you.”

Rachel’s brows furrow.

“So who are you? You work for one of the psych hospitals or something?” She asks. “He’s been in and out of those for years.”

Alexander looks at his phone. 

“Since you’re a volunteer here,” he asks. “You’re technically not on the clock, right? Do you wanna grab coffee?”

\----

They’re at a local coffee shop twenty minutes later, and Rachel is telling him about Alvie. Some things he already knows-they grew up together, went to school together, best friends and practically siblings. Alvie had come out to Rachel in high school shortly before his diagnosis. He trusted her. He told her about his nightmares.

“Did you come here to tell me my brother is dead?” She finally asks.

Alexander shakes his head, sipping at his coffee. 

“He’s alive and well,” he says. “Thriving actually. He talks about you a lot.”

“Where?” She asks, her voice small.

“Rachel,” Alexander says carefully. “He told you he could dream the future, right? Did you believe him?”

Rachel frowns. “He’s manic. He climbed a bridge once because he wanted to jump off and swim. He says lots of crazy shit.”

“But did you believe him?” Alexander asks again. 

Rachel’s quiet for a minute. It’s all Alexander needs to go on.

“He was telling the truth, Rachel,” he says. “Alvie has an ability- _ precognition _ , they call it. He does have visions of future events through dreams.”

Rachel’s brows furrow slightly, but she says nothing.

“There are people that seek out people like Alvie-people that work in the government, may work for their own organization. It’s a big secret. Conspiracy theories and... _ shit _ ,” he says, adopting the way she talks.

She smiles a little and so does he. 

“When he was in the hospital,” he says. “At some point, one of those people were planted there, and they moved him to their organization. He was there for almost a year.”

“Like a prisoner?” She frowns.

Alexander nods. 

“I went to see him,” he says. “They were regularly inducing him with hallucinogens to see what they could get out of him.”

“There’s no way,” she says, shaking her head. “Whatever he told you-”

“He believed he was in a regular psychiatric hospital,” Alexander interrupts her, knowing that his story sounds unbelievable. “He thought he was getting electroconvulsive therapy and sleep study sessions. I put a stop to it. Real quick.”

“Okay, and who are  _ you _ ?” Rachel asks skeptically. “And if any of this wasn’t bullshit, you wouldn’t come find me and tell me.”

“I came here to tell you because he cares about you, and I care about him,” he says. “They wanted _ me _ too. I told them only if they let him go. He’s under my care now.”

“What? Were you roommates at one of the psych wards?” She scoffs, fishing out a couple of bills to cover their coffee. She grabs her bag, standing up.

“Rachel-” he says, taking a pocket knife from his pants pocket.

She stops and watches as he digs it into the inside of his wrist.

“JESUS!” She says, grabbing for napkins from the dispenser. “HOLY SHIT!”

He takes the napkins from her and holds them to his arm. She rips out her phone, possibly to call for help, but without a word, he removes the bloodied napkins from his arm. He takes a fresh one, dips it in his glass of water and wipes the blood from his arm. 

Rachel’s brows furrow. 

There’s no mark. 

“He wanted me to give you this,” he says, taking something from his messenger bag. A folded sheet of paper. 

She unfolds it and her eyes fill with tears. It’s a sketch of her and her parents from this past Christmas. They’re in the cheesy matching sweaters her mother had bought for them. She’d bought Alvie one too, just by some miracle he’d show up. In the sketch, she’s wearing a slouch beanie. She’d received one from her parents. 

“Please come and see him,” Alexander says. “It would mean the world to him.”

Rachel carefully folds the drawing back up, tears falling down her face now.

“And I know it would mean the world to you too,” he says.

To be continued...

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	9. I've been trying to say All of the reasons I've failed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. Thank you all for being so patient with these updates. I know it's slower than usual, but we're making head way. 
> 
> A always, let us know what you think in the comments. 
> 
> We're anxious to hear from you all. Also, we're super excited about some of these up coming scenes in this chapter and the next couple of chapters that we will bring to you. Some of these scenes have been in the works for MONTHS and we are finally at a place where they fit and we can share them with you. 
> 
> Lastly, we're running out of good character quotes for each of these chapters, so we're going to start titling them with song titles that we feel might be appropriate for the chapter. ;-) 
> 
> This chapter title is from Curious Hands by Kunika. We found it to be a fitting song for Rachel and Alvie.

“This is it,” Alexander says as they step out of the SUV. 

Rachel stares up at the large, three story structure in awe. 

“Juan wound up  _ here _ ?” She asks. “Lucky mother-”

“I know you’re excited to see him,” Alexander interrupts her, taking her hands in his. “And he’s dying to see you, trust me. He’s talked about nothing else, but I can’t stress enough how important it is that you keep his secret.”

Rachel nods. She doesn’t want to agree, but if it’s the only way she can see him…

When they go inside, everyone is in the living room. There’s a man and a little girl working on a puzzle together-next to them, a ferret and a rabbit. There’s a young man carrying two coffee mugs into the living room from the kitchen. He passes one to another man in a sweater who goes over to a nearby desk. 

And then she sees him. He’s sitting on the couch, chattering away to everyone just as charming and animated as he always was. When he sees her, he goes quiet and stands up. 

“Rach,” he says softly, smiling a little. 

Rachel’s eyes cloud with tears and before she knows it, she’s on him, hitting him in the chest and calling him names. The others look concerned and Ruben actually approaches, but doesn’t intervene. They relax when Alvie only smiles and wraps his arms around her. She buries her face in his shoulder, sobbing. 

“I missed you too,” he says, burying his nose in her hair. When he pulls back, he wipes away a few tears.

“I thought you were dead,” she says. “Shoved in the back of some psycho’s car or behind an alley somewhere...and you’re...you’re okay.”

She hits him one more time and he lets out a cross between a laugh and ‘ow’. 

“Can I get you some coffee, Rachel?” Usnavi asks.

She nods. “Coffee would be great.”

Alvie says, “Let me introduce you to everyone. That’s Usnavi-he reads minds...like...uh...Professor X. Only, you know, he ain’t paralyzed so he doesn’t get a flyin’ wheelchair or nothin’.”

Usnavi waves a few of his fingers. “Not as glamorous as it sounds,” he explains. “To me it just sounds like people talking. And they never shut up. Like your brother.”

Alvie dismisses the comment and says, “That’s Lee and Lyra-they’re from another world. Lee controls the weather.”

“It is insane that you’re not high right now,” Rachel says, shaking her head, but she manages a smile at the pair. 

“You know Ali,” Alvie says. “He’s Alexander Hamilton. The guy from the ten dollar bill, can you believe it?”

Alex crosses his arms and shrugs. 

Alvie grabs the other guy by the hand and brings him closer. He looks a bit more shy now and Rachel notices he’s still holding his hand after he’s pulled him over. 

“This is Benny-Ruben,” he says, grinning sheepishly. “He’s mad smart and he’s a chemist. He drank some of his own magic juice and it gave him electric powers.”

Alexander chuckles. 

“You don’t have to spill all the tea,” he tells him, but he’s smiling affectionately. 

“Hello, Rachel,” Ruben says, holding out his hand. 

Rachel shakes it. 

“Hi,” she says and looks at Alvie, eyebrows raised.

“He’s uh...he’s my boyfriend,” Alvie tells her, blushing. 

The others are shocked to actually see him blush.

Rachel nods and then she hugs him. It’s overwhelming enough to know that he’s okay, but to be here with him in this big fancy place with people that obviously care about him, it makes her emotional. He looks so much healthier too. He doesn’t have the dark circles under his eyes anymore and he’s still skinny, but not as skinny as he was. The kind of skinny where his clothes were practically hanging off of him.

“Lemme give you a tour of the place,” he tells her, taking her hand. “This place is HUGE.”

As he leads her upstairs, Alex thinks,  _ This is why Lawless’ methods didn’t work.  _

\---

Alvie is talking a mile a minute. Pointing out every detail of the Barracks to Rachel. He points out everyone's rooms, where the bathrooms are, who has the best view. Slowly, him and Ruben and Rachel wind their way up to the third floor. Ruben has her bag in tow for her so she can walk and chat with Alvie unhindered. 

When they get to their room, Alvie pauses. "This is mine and Ruben's room. Wait until you see my bunnies!" Alvie says, gesturing at the small space. “His lab is close by. He takes care of all these plants and stuff.”

“Two beds?” Rachel raises an eyebrow at him.

“We were roommates first.” Alvie shrugs. He flops onto his bed and scoots over, gesturing for her to join him. He nods at the window above his bed.

Rachel looks at Ruben and mouths, 'bunnies?' at him. Ruben just smiles. He doesn't want to steel Alvie's thunder.

Alvie opens the door and heads straight for the bunny cage that sits between the two beds.

He pulls out the two fluffy rabbits and holds them up to her. He motions to the brown and white one first. "This is Leroy." He holds up the grey and white one next. "And this is Chester."

"Isn't that the name of the Texas guy and his rabbit downstairs?" She asks, taking one of the bunnies Alvie carefully passes over to her.

"Ohhhh..." she coos. "Hewwo."

She snuggles Chester and asks, "Why bunnies? You've never expressed interest in pets."

"Well, no one ever let me have one. But... I like soft things. They feel good to cuddle."

Ruben chimes in, "I thought maybe he might like the responsibility of taking care of something. Rabbits are pretty straight forward. They were supposed to live in the lab, but sometimes Alvie likes to have them sleep on his pillow. It just made more sense to let him have them in here."

"They're precious," Rachel agrees, nuzzling one. She passes them back to Alvie. "Do they help?" She asks. She knows she doesn't need to explain what she's referring to.

Alvie glances at Ruben. "It does. But, Ruben helps more. Mostly they just cheered me up when I was in a place that I could be cheered up."

Ruben smiles at him and takes his hand. "I was just glad that you liked them. There wasn't an agenda. I know things get hard." He looks at Rachel. "We all just wanted to help him as best we could."

Rachel grins, reaching over to pet one of the bunnies.

"Mom and Dad are gonna lose their shit."

She looks serious. "You are going to call them?"

“S-sure. I guess.”

Rachel can sense his hesitation, but she lets it go for now. She watches as he carefully puts Leroy and Chester back in their cage. They sit down on his bed together. 

Ruben stands up and stretches before leaning over and kissing Alvie’s temple. “I’m going to let you catch up. I’ll come find you guys later. Take all the time you need.” He gives Alvie’s hand a squeeze and then walks out the door, closing it softly behind him. 

Alvie looks back at Rachel. “Just like old times,” he says motioning to the two of them sitting on the bed under an open window. 

Rachel laughs, understanding what he’s getting at.

“They let you smoke here?” She asks.

“Ruben keeps it now,” he says. “But yeah. We smoke together. Me and Usnavi smoke together. Ali once in a while...but...he’s not into it.” 

They lay there for a while and she snuggles up against him. She notices what almost looks like a thinning patch of hair near his temple. She rubs her finger on it.

“It’s a burn,” he says simply. “One of the ETC techs had shaky hands.”

Rachel nods. She wants to kill every last person who almost killed him. Alexander told her what he’d gone through. He told her how he’d put a stop to it. 

“Did you miss us?” She asks.

“Only all the time,” he says, laughing softly. “They told me you and Tia Rosie and Tio Miguel wouldn’t wanna see me. Not until I was better. Even on Christmas I asked if I could at least call and they said no.”

“Assholes,” Rachel scoffs, sitting up. “Of course we wanted to see you. I finished my fucking internship at some kind of human rights thing just in case you might randomly appear looking for a hot meal or something.”

Alvie looks at her.

“Really?” He asks. 

“We hired a P.I., Juan,” she tells him. “Do you know how difficult it is to find some strung-out, Bipolar, twenty-something year old in New York CIty?”

He sits up too.

“I’m sorry,” he says. 

“It’s not your fault,” she says, and then. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I basically threw you out in Phoenix. I made you feel unwelcome.”

“I wouldn’t work,” Alvie reminds her. “I stole from you. I was worried that you weren’t safe around me anymore. I needed to leave.”

“It was the dreams,” Rachel says. “You saw something.”

Alvie nods again, looking away. 

“What?”

“I saw you get hurt,” he says. “If I would’ve stayed, you would’ve gotten hurt because of me.”

At that moment the door opens and Ruben steps in. He looks a little sheepish.

“Hi,” he says, smiling nervously.

“It’s good, Benny,” Alvie says. “We’re just catchin’ up. Hey, where’s my stash? Rachel wants to smoke later.”

“Left drawer in my lab desk,” Ruben says simply. He looks unsure of what to do so he tends to some plants. 

“Want me to leave?” Rachel offers.

“No, you’re fine,” Ruben says. 

He finally sits on the opposite bed and says, “Alvie talks about you all the time. You’re his favorite person.”

Rachel grins. It’s good to know he never forgot about her or thought they were one more family that threw him away. 

“So how did you two end up together?” She asks. “He wore you down?”

Ruben laughs a little, shaking his head. 

“He was forward,” he admits. “But...just a really good friendship I guess? Turned into more.”

“I shotgunned him on Christmas Eve and then climbed into his bed and made out with him,” Alvie says.

“Now  _ that _ sounds more plausible,” Rachel agrees. 

\---

“Alvie seems extra cheerful,” Alexander says downstairs, eyeing the top floor where Alvie had ushered Rachel to so he could show her  _ everything _ .

Usnavi passes him a cup of coffee and says, “Yeah, but you gotta remember, this is like Christmas morning for him. Having Rachel here.”

Alexander nods at Ruben who joins them in the kitchen and teases, “Feeling third-wheeled?”

“Nah, I just want to give him some space to catch up. It’s… It’s a big deal getting to see your family after such a long time.” Ruben frowns and purses his lips. “I just want him to have his space with her. They have a lot to talk about. Apparently Lawless has been lying to Alvie, so there’s a lot to unravel.”

They’re all quiet for a moment, and Usnavi doesn’t have to point out they’re all thinking the same thing-Alvie’s the one who truly got screwed by Rochambeau. 

“And you think…” he looks at Alexander. “We can trust her? She won’t run to authorities or try and convince Alvie to leave with her?”

“I  _ think  _ so. I mean, there are no guarantees, but it was the right thing to do. It’s what’s best for Alvie.” Alex looks at Ruben and then back at Usnavi. “He has a good reason to stay, isn’t that right, Ruben?”

“I-I hope so. I don’t feel like leaving, but I don’t want Alvie to go either. I hope he decides to stay.” He shrugs his shoulders. 

\----

After showing her everything inside of the barracks, Alvie decided to show her  _ outside _ which is mostly just snow and trees, but it’s certainly different than back home. The air smells fresher and the lack of buildings and people and cars is kind of nice, Rachel decides. It’s good for Alvie. 

“So Mom went fucking nuts and basically the house is now the color of nineties,” Rachel says, following Alvie back inside and they both brush snow from their clothes. 

Alvie laughs at whatever they’re talking about and says, “She’s always wanted that though. Give her that.”

The others smile at them and Alvie smiles back, taking a drag on his vape. He turns to Rachel and says, “Ruben’s gotta uh, re-do my bandages. Wanna come with? It’s pretty gross.”

Rachel snort-laughs and hits him on the arm. She nods and follows him, and Ruben who gets up from the sofa, back upstairs. 

“Did you tell them the first time you mutilated yourself you fucking passed out in the bathtub?” she says, rubbing her arms with her hands-the memory slightly chilling. “You didn’t even do it in the bathtub. You got blood fucking everywhere and then decided to collapse in the shower. Fucking prick.”

Alvie laughs again and says to Ruben, “Ain’t she the nicest sister in the world?”

Ruben smirks as he opens the door to his lab. “I can definitely see a family resemblance,” he says. He tugs a little nervously at his sleeves. 

Alvie obediently sits on the barstool next to the work table and rolls up the left sleeve of his jacket where his arms are currently bandaged. Rachel watches as Ruben works quickly, but carefully to check his cuts and redress them.

“You only cut yourself on one arm?” She asks.

Ruben looks at her and then at Alvie. 

“What happened exactly?” She asks, noticing the cuts are much higher than his wrist and seem to be localized to one spot. She notices a deep, textured bruise. It looks like the kind she had when she briefly used the arm implant birth control, only worse. 

“Juan.” She steps closer, taking his wrist in her hands to observe the damage for herself. “What the fuck?”

She looks at him and then at Ruben.

“It’s my um…” Alvie looks at Ruben for help. He can already hear the anger bubbling in Rachel’s tone.

“It’s a tracker. Rochambeau was worried he was a flight risk, and with his powers they didn’t want him falling into the hands of a group that might do him further harm. It’s… It’s supposed to be for his safety,” Ruben says, gently rubbing Alvie’s arm. 

“A…” Rachel’s brow furrows. “I’m sorry, but I know you didn’t just say a tracker.”

When Ruben says nothing and neither does Alvie, she turns on her heels to walk out. Alvie sighs and gets up to follow her.

“Rach-” he says as she goes down the hall and to the stairs. He takes her arm.

“Come on,” he pleads. “It’s...it’s not as bad as you think.”

“Is it as bad as  _ you _ think?” She says hotly, holding up his arm. “You’re the one that tried to fucking dig it out with a razor blade.”

She drops his hand like a hot potato and continues down the stairs, Alvie on her heels.

“The fuck are you gonna do?” He asks, a little worried because he’s seen Rachel tear into other kids, teachers, neighbors, their parents…

Rachel all but almost plows into Alexander, who holds up his coffee mug just in time so it doesn’t slosh all over the place.

“You didn’t tell me he had a fucking tracking device in his arm!” She says angrily. “You didn’t tell me he’s tagged like a goddamn cat. What the fuck?”

“I’m sorry, what is this about?” He glances up with eyes a bit like a deer caught in the headlights, at Alvie and Ruben coming in just behind Rachel. 

“When you came to New Jersey,” Rachel says. “You told me he’d hurt himself. You didn’t tell me that Rochambeau has a tracking device in him and that he tried to cut it out.”

It’s clear that she’s fighting to keep her voice steady and as Alvie moves to touch her, she grabs his wrist and rolls up his sleeve.

“This,” she says. “You didn’t tell me he has this in him and that he tried to take it out and that’s how he fucking hurt himself.”

She lets go of his hand and says, “Juan, let’s go home. Please. Please-” she swallows hard.

Alvie sighs, looking at Alexander briefly and tells Rachel, “Hey, it’s not what you think, okay?”

Rachel looks at Alexander. “I’m fucking taking him home.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Alvarez, but I only recently became aware that it was a problem for Alvie. I’m looking into possibly getting it removed. But you have to understand that it was the one condition on which our supervisors agreed in order for him to come here with us and not have to stay where he was previously housed. I am doing the best I can here. You haven’t been around to see the progress that we’ve made. The changes that we’ve put in place.” He takes a moment to catch his breath. “It was what we thought was best, given his history at the time. I can see why you are upset. And Alvie is not the same kid he was when he first came to us.”

Alvie nods at Alexander and pulls Rachel against him. She starts crying then and he murmurs into her hair, “Fucking weak, Rach.”

“Shut the fuck up,” she whimpers, but kisses his cheek. “I...I need a minute.”

“Great,” he says, mouthing ‘she’s okay’ after she turns to go back upstairs. “I’ll come with you.”

“I said I need a minute.”

“And I said I’m fucking coming with you,” he tells her, following her up the stairs.

“Goddamn,” Lee finally says, opening the microwave to get his Pizza rolls.

“Are you okay?” Pippa asks Ruben.

“Y-yeah. I-I just wasn’t expecting her to r-react like th-that. Damn. She’s feisty. No wonder Alvie loves her. But, damn. She’s scary.”

“Shit, can I…” Alexander runs a hand through his hair and mutters, ‘“drink my coffee now?”

\----

Rachel waits for Alvie to put his jacket back on and grab the baggie of weed and paper for them to go back outside. She’s a little embarrassed to go back downstairs, but Alvie doesn’t seem upset. 

“Why didn’t you tell me this stuff?” Rachel asks. “The tracker and big...organization...what is all this shit?”

She relaxes a little when Alvie simply cracks the window and shrugs his jacket off. She takes hers off too, climbing onto the bed next to him as he starts to roll out the joint. 

“Honestly, Rach, I don’t think about it most days. The tracker has been in for months now and I was so desperate to come here with the rest of the group, with Ruben, that I didn’t hesitate to agree to it. Back there, at the facility, I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. I… this place… These guys, they’ve been… They’ve been good for me. You have no idea how bad it had gotten before… before I came here.” He finishes rolling the joint and lights it, taking the first drag before he hands it to her. “It was only when I cycled into that low that it got to me. I can feel it, but like, it only bothered me when literally everything bothered me. You know how I get when those moods hit. I can’t control it and I sort of over react to every little thing. I scared the hell out of all of them when they found me on the floor in the bathroom with blood everywhere, Ruben most of all.”

Rachel takes a drag, nodding. 

“The first time you got blood all over the bathroom and scared the hell out of everyone,” she says. “This is what we did, remember? Laid in bed and smoked and talked about what a fucking mess you are.”

She smiles at him.

“Sorry I kind of never outgrew the ‘losing my shit and threatening to take you away’ part of that,” she says. “I can see you are doing better.”

He takes the joint from her and pulls in another puff. “I am doing better. This was… this was the first low in months. And Ruben… he’s brilliant. His powers, they, well, they sort of help like nothing else. He says that since I can’t feel his electricity, but my body reacts like I’m getting a power surge, that’s what Lawless, he’s the guy who sort of runs Rochambeau, that’s why he was using ECT to shorten my lows. This is much less, uh, invasive, traumatizing, whatever word you wanna use. Ruben says Lawless wasn’t wrong but that he didn’t have all the pieces to help me. But Ruben, he’s, well, I think I already said he’s a genius. He’s customizing my medication so that I don’t feel like a zombie. I still feel like me.”

“Whatever works, I guess,” Rachel says, letting out a long sigh. She looks at him. “So you are happy? This isn’t some ‘blink twice’ if they’re listening scenario?”

“I… I know it’s weird, but I sort of love my life here. I have so many issues and these guys, Ruben especially, they care. Like you care. But like, they put up with all my garbage and stick with me. No one, other than you, has ever done that for me and I really needed that. Hell, Ruben even trusted me with something living. He gave me my bunnies.” He nods to the cage that sits between their two beds, despite Ruben’s insistence that they be housed in the lab, they’d never really left the bedroom. 

Rachel raises up to ground out and flick what’s left of the joint out the window and when she lays back down says, “Yeah, you’re not gonna sit here and talk about Ruben giving you bunnies as the big selling point. Giving you that dick maybe.” She laughs when he playfully hits her arm.

“So what happens after?” She asks seriously. “After all this...is this...forever? You live here with a bunch of weirdos and a tracker in your arm and raise bunnies?”

“Well, I don’t exactly know. I’ll stay with Ruben. He goes where I go and I go where he goes. I don’t know what that’s gonna look like, but given all my issues, I’ll probably let him decide. He makes me happy. I can’t imagine myself anywhere else than by his side.”

“I can tell,” she says, smiling. “Promise me you’ll call Mom and Dad, yeah? Just say you’re living with your doctor boyfriend. That’s all they need to know. I’ll vouch for you.”

“I will. I promise. You’re sure they’re going to want to hear from me. I mean, it’s been so long. What if they ask questions?”

“The fuck?” She chuckles softly. “Of course they’re going to ask questions. Just say shit happened and you started dating this doctor and now you have two...fucking bunnies...they just want to know you’re safe.”

She hears footsteps outside the door and kisses his cheek.

“I’m going to shower and go to bed,” she tells him. “Before the boyfriend runs out of things to pretend to do out in the hall.”

She gets up, stretches and says, “Sorry I kind of lost it tonight. I am glad you’re okay.”

“I really am okay here. I hope you can see that. I’ll tell Alex you’re not going to kidnap me and run away.” He grins at her. “Come on, Ruben,” Alvie yells, “you can go ahead and come on in here. Rachel’s not gonna bite your head off.”

Ruben walks in and smiles awkwardly. Rachel smiles back at him and says, “Goodnight, guys.” 

As she leaves the room, she pats Ruben’s arm and kisses his cheek. After she’s gone, Alvie says, “Breathe, Benny.” 

He pats the spot on the bed next to him. 

“So did you guys talk it out? I had no idea she could be so… scary. Yikes. How did you ever have the nerve to upset her?” Ruben asks. 

Alvie kisses his cheek, snuggling up to him.

“She ain’t scary,” he says. “She’s just fucking  _ loud _ . That’s all. She’s my best friend.”

He sighs and says, “I did her wrong. I shouldn’t have disappeared on her the way I did.”

“You saw something and were trying to protect her. Did you explain that to her?”

“You can’t explain stuff to Rachel,” Alvie says. “She’s like you...she’s a  _ fixer _ . I’m just glad she’s here.”

He snuggles up closer to Ruben. 

“Glad I’m here. Glad you’re here,” he continues. “All of us.”

\----

There’s a soft knock at the door. Alvie is fast asleep and Ruben is still up sitting at the desk in the bedroom working on some notes for Alex. He goes to open the door and it’s Rachel. She notes the main light is off and Alvie is asleep.

“I forgot my phone,” she says quietly.

Ruben opens the door for her, “Come in.” He nods to her and then sits back down at the desk, expecting her to just grab her phone and head to bed in her room. 

She takes her phone from the end table by the bed Alvie’s sleeping on and then sits down next to him. 

“He had a lot of things to say about you,” she says. “Good things. You’re smart and, and talented and funny and what not.”

When Ruben only looks at her, she says, “This is the part where you say ‘oh yeah I am all those things’ or ‘oh. He said that about  _ me _ ?’.”

Ruben laughs. “Alvie’s a pretty amazing guy. I’ve never met anyone like him. Did you know that he used to dream about me? I don’t think I’m anything special. But… he makes me think I could be. One day. And, I can’t believe he said all that about  _ me. _ ” He smiles at her. “I hope you know that I love your brother. He… he sort of saved me, kind of, in his own way. He made sure that when I needed help, it was there for me. It led me to him. Let’s step over to my office so we don’t wake him up.”

Rachel smiles and stands up, following him to the little office.

“I can see how happy you make him and obviously he makes you happy too,” she says. “I’m happy for you guys.” She looks around. “So what is all this stuff? Juan told me you’re a doctor, but he didn’t say what kind.”

“I’m not actually a medical doctor, but I have doctorates in Biochemistry and Engineering. I can study all of our unique biochemistries and formulate drugs and therapies that might help us better control our powers. Most of this,” he motions around his small office, “are things that I’m working on for Usnavi. His ability is proving more challenging than I originally expected. If he gets around too many people, he’s overwhelmed and experiences debilitating headaches. I’m trying to find a way to help him manage it.    
  
“And I’m also trying to help Alvie manage his cycles in a way that will work best for him. Basically I can invent therapies and tech that can be used together to get the most efficient results.” He pauses and nods as he continues. “When I can figure out the individual puzzle.”

Rachel nods looking around at the scattered and cluttered sheets of paper and file folders. 

“And before all this?” She asks.

“Well, I-I-I used to w-work at a hospital in Ph-Philadelphia. I ran the pharmacology lab there. But, that ended badly when, um, I sort of got kidnapped by a coworker. He needed me to make a dr-drug for him. That’s why Alvie sent me help. Things… things were really bad for a while. I almost died. It’s how I got my powers. I took my own drug and then this happened.” He held up his fingers and wiggled them like he was waving, letting his blue lighting dance across them. “I’d really rather not talk about b-b-before, if that’s okay.” He looks up briefly to try and read her expression before letting his gaze fall back to the desk and it’s scattered papers. 

Rachel nods and doesn’t ask anymore about before Rochambeau. 

“So you think you can help them?” She asks. “Like actually fix them?” She closes her eyes briefly, remembering how much Alvie hated that word ‘fix’. “You can help?” She rephrases. “To cope with their abilities?”

“I  _ know  _ I can help Alvie. I’ve already seen the treatments starting to work. It’s just a matter of finding the right dosage that will alleviate some of his symptoms. I can’t stop him from cycling, but yes. I can help him to cope. Usanvi is a different issue. I don’t know yet with him. I feel like I’m still missing a piece of the puzzle where his ability is concerned. But, regardless, I’ll keep working, for both of their sakes.”

He looks up and meets her gaze again. 

“I really liked what you said to Alex earlier. I wish I had your boldness. I’ve thought every single thing you said to him. Only it’s not Alex that did it. It’s Lawless, but, I’m glad you said it. Alex  _ did _ let it happen. But he was desperate to get us out of there. Alvie most of all. I think… I think Alvie would have died if Alex hadn’t got us out of there. They wouldn’t intentionally have killed him, but his ability was just too tempting. All of ours were. Alex knew we needed our own place. But, I don’t like Alvie having a tracker on him. It… he’s not a dog, you know? He’s not property.”

“Truth be told,” Rachel says, rubbing her arms with her hands. “He is a runner. When things get hard, he disappears. I imagine that things have been really hard on him these past couple of years.”

She looks at Ruben and adds, “Just be patient with him, okay?”

“Always. I couldn’t hurt him any more than I could hurt myself. Probably even less than that.” He nervously tugs his sleeves down again. 

Rachel looks at her phone and then says, “I believe you.” 

She gets up and kisses him on the cheek again. 

“And I believe what he says about you,” she tells him. “I think you’re good for him.” 

She follows Ruben out of the door and goes to check on Alvie one last time before she heads off to bed.  _ Old habits die hard _ , she tells herself. 

Before she leaves, she strokes some of Alvie’s short hair and then closes the door to the bedroom as quietly as she can.

Ruben smiles at Alvie’s sleeping face. He sets his papers in some semblance of organization and then strips down to his boxers before climbing into bed with Alvie. He’s still been sleeping skin to skin with him, ever since his low cycle. Maybe if he does this every night, he can not only shorten the length of the low, but lengthen his more even cycles. He doesn’t know if it will work, but it’s as good a hypothesis to experiment on as any. 

He snuggles in close behind Alvie and pulls him to his chest. He’s asleep within minutes. 

To be continued...

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